Fugitive
by Amethystfairy1
Summary: The children of myth have lived in the shadows for centuries. Things are worse now then ever, with an anti-myth organization on the rise, terrorizing the creatures and splitting up families. Committing murder and uprooting the lives of ones who are different. These ones now must band together, to fulfill a prophecy left by their ancestors, and save their species from extinction.
1. Children of Myth

**_Ok, I know how stupid it is that Valentin supposedly flew from Romania to somewhere in the general vicinity of London, England within several hours on wing and not moving nearly as fast as a plane or something because he's not all out sprint flying, I'm playing my one per story 'unexplained event' card, so...please just roll with it! Thank you, and enjoy!_**

* * *

"No! Leave me be!"

Valentin shouted as he sprinted through the streets, a mob of screaming, people behind him, wielding stakes, pitchforks, and torches.

 _Isn't that a little cliché?_

He couldn't help but wonder as he dodged a well thrown pitchfork.

Valentin's bright red overcoat clung closely to his form, his small black hat trailing several red and white ribbons. His black cloak whipped behind him as he ran, all of the people who wanted him dead raging madly after him.

He licked his fanged canines, panting for breathing.

Valentin was a 4th generation vampire.

The sun could still burn him, but it wasn't as bad as if he were a full blooded vampire. Currently, though, it was the middle of the night, and these people were all chasing after him, trying to kill him for no reason other then because they caught him taking life giving blood from one of the cattle in the grazing pastures behind the village. He didn't need to drink often, but when he did he would always find some cow or other beast to drain. He never took enough to kill, only to cause the animal to be a bit tipsy for a little while afterwards.

He'd drank human blood once in his seventeen years of life, and it's intoxicatingly sweet taste still haunted him. Valentin had drank that time in self defense, the person had wanted to kill him, had him cornered and badly injured, and his only weapon at the age of thirteen had been his fangs.

Shaking the dark memory from his head, Valentin skidded around another street corner, grabbing onto a lamppost to help himself turn.

Despite the abilities that came with it, he'd give anything to not be a pale, fanged, unwanted monster. He hated what he was, and he hated how people would be perfectly friendly to him. That is, until they saw his elongated sharpened teeth, or noticed his scarlet red eyes.

Those same blood red eyes scanned the moonlit starry sky flecked with clouds.

 _Could I get high enough fast enough for them not to be able to see me?_

He wondered.

Hearing the whispers of members of the mob coming closer as they searched for him, the brown haired vampire realized he didn't have a choice.

He quickly undid the clasp on his cloak and whipped it off, tossing it over one elbow as he rolled his shoulders.

Through the slits in the back of his overcoat, he pushed free his leathery bat like wings. Giving several tests flaps to work the sleep out of them, he'd had them tied down, immobile, for several hours, he turned and heard the people coming closer.

Valentin backed up against the wall, beating his wings several more times to free them completely from his coat.

Just before one of the hunters was about to peer into the alleyway, Valentin's boots left the ground.

He was air born, feeling the usual amazing rush that came with flight.

An almost contented look crossed his face as he spiraled several times up into the night sky, rising swiftly until he could see the entire village from his place.

Slowing, he beat his wings at a steady rhythm to keep himself in one spot, staring down at the fires that still licked several of the buildings.

Including his home.

Angling himself sharply, he dove toward it, folding up his wings against his back almost completely, only using the tips to direct himself.

As he approached he spread his full ten foot wingspan again, feeling the wind catch in his jet black wings like it would catch sails.

He pulled up out of his dive and circled about fifty feet above his home.

The fires crackled from the torches they'd thrown through his windows when he slammed in and locked the doors behind him. He recalled vividly trying to put out the fires before realizing it was pointless and making a run for it out the back door. Valentin had allowed himself to be chased all throughout the village, not wanted to resort to flight, for none of the hunters knew he had wings, and he desired to keep it that way.

 _Where now?_

He pondered as he stared down at the wooden braces and walls that had so long shielded him from the hateful eyes and painful sun of dawn giving way to the extreme heat.

Valentin covered his eyes with one hand, trying to force back the tears that burnt his eyes like the fires that burnt his home.

He couldn't watch this anymore, so he turned and poured all of his energy into flying straight up.

He burst through the clouds and sailed above them for a few moments, gliding on the tailwinds behind him, letting them carry him, not caring which direction he was going.

The frigid wind cooled the tears on his face as he wiped his eyes ruffly with the sleeve of his overcoat, cursing the fact that the teeth he now gritted were so sharp, if he were not careful he may even pierce his own tongue.

For hours, it felt, he continued above the clouds, not even bothering to dip below and check where he was heading, the only thing that could stop him now was the coming of dawn, which would force him into hiding for the day. Valentin could bear the sun, so long as he was still mostly covered in long sleeves and pants, but the rays would begin to burn after a while, so flying in broad daylight with nothing shading his wings, the most fragile parts of his body, was out of the question.

Yawning, the young vampiric angled himself to one side, doing a lazy spiral.

This was when he saw another form flying through the night just a couple hundred yards to his left in the opposite direction.

Squinting, he wondered if that was some sort of bird, before quickly realizing that birds didn't have arms, legs, and wear thick boots and leather jackets.

Curious, he increased his own altitude and glided above the strange figure.

The wind whistling his ears, Valentin dropped down slightly to get a good look at this odd creature.

This was when he realized it was a human...or at least, something close.

He looked rather normal with his dirty blonde mop of unmanageable appearing hair, worn down dark blue jeans, and black leather jacket. This was the most of what Valentin could see of his attire from his position up above.

The only issue was the set of large black feathered wings sprouting from his shoulder blades.

Valentin backpedaled in the air a few feet when he realized this.

 _A boy around my age with angel wings!? But wait...aren't angel wings supposed to be white? His are black!_

He through chaotically as the person continued to hurtle onward at a brutal pace.

The vampire silently matched this pace with a few heavy thrusts of his own bat like wings against the wind pushing both of them.

The strange flying 'angel' charged forward just as quickly, and Valentin, after several minutes following him and considering the idea, made up his mind.

He increased his speed just a tad more and angled himself downward, pulling up alongside the teen.

"Hello!" He called cheerily in his heavy romanian accent, stabbing in the dark that this person spoke english, as he waved with a gloved hand.

"BLOODY HELL!"

The black winged boy yelped as, for a few moments, he forgot he could fly, and went tumbling messily downward before leveling off again and flying back up to Valentin's height.

Valentin took in the rest of his clothes, beneath his leather jacket he wore a white tee shirt with several criss crossing arrows in black as a design and had a kerchief with the british flag on it tied around his neck.

"What are you?" He demanded, the two of them now hovering, facing each other mid air.

"I was going to ask you the same question." Valentin replied.

The blonde rolled his emerald green eyes.

"I'm a bloody freak of nature, I assume you are something of the like?"

Valentin shook his head, the ribbons on his small hat trailing in the wind.

"You won't believe me."

"Bloke, we're two young men having a mid air conversation while both of us are flapping our wings to stay air born. I think I can handle it."

"I'm a vampire."

"Well then...that's a new one." The boy replied in an obviously british accent.

He edged a bit close and stretched out a hand.  
"The names Arthur." He said.

Valentin smiled, Arthur's eyes widening at the sight of his over an inch long pointed canines, and took the offered handshake.  
"I'm Valentin."

"Pleasure."

Valentin was quite surprised when it actually sounded like Arthur meant it.

"Mind if I tag along with you for a little bit? I haven't got a destination in mind and I would appreciate it if you could tell me where exactly I am. I was kind of in a rush to get away from home."

Valentin admitted, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish fanged grin.

"Not at all, I'm heading for London." He replied.

The two of them began to move again at a much more relaxed pace, Valentin allowing Arthur to take the lead.

"So, why exactly did you bolt out of your house? Parents pissed at you or something?" Arthur asked teasingly.

Valentin shook his head.

"My parents were both killed a long time ago, one for being a vampire, the other for marrying a vampire, I survived it and hid in our house, I managed to hide that I was a vampire for a while. Naturally, my luck ran out when they caught me drinking one of the cows out in the pastures blood one night a few months back. Ever since they've been trying to figure out my identity.

Finally got it tonight, chasing me out of my home and burnt it down. Then they pursued me all throughout the village until I couldn't take it anymore and just...took off."

"Literally, eh?" Arthur nodded in understanding.

"Similar thing happened to me. Freak of nature born to a normal woman and a man who had fallen angel blood in his veins and didn't even know it."

Valentin raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Fallen angel?"

"An angel who was shunned from the heavens and lived their lives out on earth, eventually having offspring with a human. Our Dad was a 7th generation and didn't even know it, neither him, nor his Dad, nor his Granddad, nor his Great Granddad had ever actually gotten wings. Wouldn't you know it, me, the 8th generation, was the one who wound up with them!"

Arthur grumbled.

"Not that I'm complaining about the whole flying part. My parents were not exactly what you'd call supportive when I woke up one day at seven years old with feathery stubs growing out of my back. Oh, sure, they took me to the hospital, we went through the whole 'everything is gonna be just fine' phase."

Arthur winced at the next memory that resurfaced.

"They lopped them off. My growing wings, that is. Damn things grew back the very next day. Having six inch stubs in your back cut off, then regrow in the space of 48 hours is way more painful then it may sound. After some mumbo jumbo I was really to young to remember or understand, my parents found out I wasn't human, and were mortified, to say the least. Seven years old, my parents handed me to an experimental facility. When my wings finally finished growing and could actually support my weight for more than five minutes, I was very moment, when I stretched my wings out and looked to the sky. I suddenly knew how to fly. Don't ask me how, I suppose it was instinct. I escaped by just flying right up and out of the outdoor yard. I went to see my parents but they wouldn't open the door to me, so I was on my own. That's my story."

Valentin looked shocked.

"That's horrible..."

After a few minutes of gliding along in awkward silence, Valentin spoke again.

"Would you happen to know anyone else...like us?"

Arthur glanced over to him, surprised.

"As a matter of fact, I do. My two brothers. They were real young when I was given over to the facility. Twin boys who manifested the fallen gene like I did. My parents gave them up to the facility when their wings began to grow again, and...again, the second they could fly, they were out of there. I actually bumped into the them one night recently after they escaped. Alfred and Matthew are their names, I'm going to see them right now. I was searching for a place for us to hide, but sadly I haven't seen any flyers for a 'mutant/mythical teens support group'. If I do I promise I'll let you know, though."

Valentin chuckled at his new companions dry humor.  
"Too bad, it would be nice if there was..."

Arthur glanced over at him, studying the far away look in his scarlet eyes.

"You got any family left?"

"No, I had a younger brother, but he was killed along with my parents..."

"No friends to speak of?"  
"It's not exactly easy to be social with teeth like this."

Valentin replied, shooting the fallen a wry grin.

 _He's got no where else to go...he's just flying on towards nowhere..._

Arthur thought as Valentin looked down at the earth far, far below.

Arthur took a breath and spoke before he could change his mind.

"Say, want to come along with me and my brothers? We've got room for one more, especially one more something like us."

Valentin's head snapped up and he stared at Arthur, unbelieving.

"R-Really? I-I wouldn't want to be a bother, though, you already have so much to deal with..."

"Nonsense! We've actually formed a bit of a plan, and you know the old saying, the more the merrier!" Arthur laughed.

Valentin looked at him for a moment, the two of them still slicing through the icy late autumn air above the clouds.

"If you wouldn't mind having me..." He began shyly, lowering his eyes toward the earth far below.

"I'd be happy to help you out with my abilities, if I can..."

Arthur half smiled.

"Than it's settled. We're planning on finding our way onto a plane, to get to New York City. We could always try flying, but, I get the feeling we wouldn't make it across the Atlantic. I've been listening around, and word is an abundance of strange 'creatures' have been lurking around there as of late. Who's to say there's not a community of people like us? Not like we've got a better option."

Valentin stared.

"The U.S? Wow...I never thought I'd leave Europe, much less cross an ocean." He murmured.

Arthur nodded, "Issue is, we've got no real way of getting on a plane, we've been trying to save, but I'm the only one with any sort of job, and being a busboy three days a week doesn't exactly pay for three, now four, tickets across the atlantic."

Valentin seemed to stare off into space for a moment, almost a full minute, before speaking slowly.

"I...may be able to get us on a plane, but it won't be easy and it could very well get us having to take off flying in the middle of an airport or get arrested."

"At this point, I'll take anything. What have you got?"

 ** _Later, in the skies above London._**

"Finally made it!" Arthur cheered as they sailed above Big Ben.

"I've never actually been to London, surprising considering I can fly, hmm?"

"What!? It's one of the best bloody cities in the world! Of course, I'm pretty biased seeing as a grew up here, but even so!"

Arthur exclaimed, having to shout as the wind whistled in their ears.

"So where are you brothers, I mean, where do you live?"

Valentin asked as they did a slow arc, turning toward the edge of the city.

Arthur shook his head, "We don't really 'live' anywhere. Oftentimes we spend the nights on rooftops or in trees, I go to work, and they go around trying to find work, but they're only sixteen so they can't get any work very easily. There!"

Arthur pointed out two boys sitting on the edge of a five story building.

"Hey! Iggy!" One of them shouted, jumping up and waving his arms around wildly as his twin came to his feet and waved with one arm.

"Mind waiting up here a second?" Arthur asked, turning to Valentin.  
"Not at all." Valentin agreed hurriedly.

Arthur thanked him and swooped downward to meet his brothers.

"Iggy!" Alfred caught his brother in a bone crushing hug before he even landed.

"I've only been gone a few days, why so clingy?" Arthur laughed as he returned his brothers hug and embraced the other, slightly younger twin.

"Arthur...who's that?" Matthew asked quietly after accepting his brothers hug, gesturing inconspicuously up at Valentin, who was a circling a couple hundred feet above and out of earshot.

"His name's Valentin, I flew into him a few hours away and we hit it off. He's very kind and even has a method of getting us to New York!"

"Dude, awesome! He's another fallen like us?"

Alfred asked excitedly, not bothering to scrutinize the shape or build of Valentin's wings.

Arthur rolled his eyes at his overly hyper little brother.

"See for yourself." He said before turning and waving to Valentin, signaling for him to join them. Valentin was happy to see the sign, first because it meant he wasn't getting shunned by the two younger brothers, and second because he didn't want to risk getting spotted flying around so close to a national landmark.

Valentin dropped down and instantly pushed his wings all the way out, several hours of flight had gotten them pretty tired.

"Hello, I'm Valentin, nice to meet you." He offered, trying what he hoped was a friendly smile.

Alfred's eyes went as wide as dinner plates at Valentin's leathery wings and fangs.

"Dude...you look like a vampire."

Valentin laughed, "I look like a vampire because I am one."

Alfred stared for a moment more.

"THAT'S FREAKING AWESOME!" He shouted.

Matthew smiled, timidly.  
"Nice to meet you, Valentin, I can't believe someone else who's like us actually exists."

"If by that you mean a little bit human and a little bit something else, than yes, I am like you." Valentin replied.

"Well, Valentin, we want to get out of this town as soon as possible, so, whats that plan of yours? You wouldn't tell me much on the way here."

Valentin tilted his head slightly, the ribbons hanging from his hat swaying slightly.

"I know we've just met, but with this one, you're going to have to trust me."

Arthur glanced to Matthew, who glanced to Alfred, who stared at Valentin.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but let's give it a shot."

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: Hi everyone! What do you think so far?**_

 _ **Valentin: ...where are we?**_

 _ **Amethyst: The sign off room! Actually got this idea from my other stories Call us Hetalia because everyone seemed to really like it when we would hang around in here and comment on whats happening in the story.**_

 _ **Arthur: Ok then. So we're heading to America?**_

 _ **Amethyst: Sure are! New York City! :D**_

 _ **Alfred: ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT!**_

 ** _Matthew: Why are you so excited, Al? You're british, remember?_**

 ** _Alfred: *Sighs* I know, but for some reason I've always had some deep connection with America...I dunno why._**

 ** _Kiku: This could in a reference to your cannon characters, as I have stated in previous chats in sign off rooms of different stories, we do not exist in this reality as..._**

 ** _Amethyst: *Punts Kiku back to China*_**

 ** _Kiku: WHYYYYYYY! *Gone*_**

 ** _Amethyst: And say there until chapters 5 or maybe 6!_**

 ** _Arthur: I can already tell this is going to be one big train wreck._**

 ** _Alfred: Favorite, follow, and please review! We hope you'll continue to follow this story! Thanks!_**


	2. Not a worry in the world

_**Thank you all so much for giving this story a good reaction! I really wanted it to do well, especially among some readers who've been following me a while. Quiet Leaf, you've been around for so long, thank you! thatwolfbutler, the werewolves are coming, in the next chapter, after the one below, all three of them appear, so I hope you like them! Zaazue *did I spell that right? :P* I can't PM you about this because you are a guest, so here is the answer to your question. I use the human name Valentin because the very first story I read involving Romania, the story that made me fall in love with him, uses Valentin as his human name. Plus I love the cute nickname Vali for him and I actually call him Vali when I talk about him. I know that Vlad or Vladimir is more popular, but I wrote Call me Magic with the name Valentin prior to gaining such knowledge. I mean I thought that it was the preference of the writer, like how Ukraine has about four different fandom accepted human names. I didn't know it was that official. Even if I did know that, I wouldn't have changed the name, because I really love the name Valentin, just in general. Also no, I didn't get the idea from a Different Kind of Vampire. I started writing this story over a year ago, so way before that story was ever posted. But I DO follow that story and I love it to bits so far! Kudos to the writer of that!**_

 _ **That's all, and thanks all of you one more time for reading! Please enjoy the next chapter!**_

* * *

 ** _The next day._**

Valentin hissed, drawing up the hood of his cloak against the bright afternoon sun.

"Dammit...I left my umbrella in my burning house..."

"You ok, dude?" Alfred whispered to him, none of them held any luggage, for they had nothing but the clothes on their backs.

"It's just...the sun...it's so bright..."

Valentin growled back, struggling to keep the discomfort, bordering on pain, from his voice.

Arthur's eyes widened slightly.

"Wait, you mean you can't be in direct sunlight? Those legends are true!?"

Valentin shrugged.  
"Yes. A full blooded vampire would already be a pile of ash on the asphalt by now, they could only stand a few minutes out in the sun, over an hour they'd be fried. I'm only a half blood, and the blood itself diffused over several generations since I'm 4th generation. As such, I'm not paper white pale, my fangs aren't four inches long, I don't have claws, and I can stand a few hours out in the sun. As long as I cover up that is..."

He pulled the hood lower over his eyes to accent this remark as the harmful rays beat down.

"Don't worry, when we get to New York, first thing we'll save up to buy is a big umbrella for you." Alfred promised.

"Thanks...I think..."

Both Alfred and Matthew wore heavy coats, Alfred an old bomber jacket and Matthew a very long hooded and furred coat with two criss crossed straps. The night before Valentin had seen their wings when they'd flown to the outskirts of the city to spend the night in the treetops. Alfred's were black with streaks of white, while Matthew, and Alfred was very jealous of this, had black wings streaked with feathers of gold. At the moment all three had their wings carefully folded flat against their backs beneath their coats, not showing so much as a hump.

They waltzed into the airport without any difficultly, walking into the main building from which people could access the different gates.

Valentin lifted his hood up slightly when they entered, though keeping it perched on his angularly cut dark brown hair to guard against the sun sifting through the skylights.

"Ok, listen."

Valentin turned to them.  
"Just walk along behind me like you're boarding the plane, don't say a single word, and if I start screaming or cursing, fly straight up, crash through the skylight, and get the heck as far away as possible."

"Sounds pretty straightforward." Alfred said dryly.

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'll tell you later, whether it works or not, if I told you now you'd turn and leave after calling me insane."

"Well, we're trusting you here."

Valentin nodded, praying he'd be able to pull this off, for his new friends sake as much as for his own.

So they went, Valentin tracking down the gate through which a plane was leaving for New York within the hour.

He made a beeline for customs with his friends following him.

As he walked up the woman behind the desk spoke.  
"Welcome sir, if you'll just show me your passports and tick...go right ahead through, thank you!"

Alfred, Matthew and Arthur all gawked as Valentin strode briskly pass the desk and made for the baggage check.

The trio of brothers scurried after him and they found a similar thing happened at each checkpoint, the person would begin their question or direction, only to look unfocused in the eyes and wave them right on though.

When they made it to the gate where the other passengers were waiting to board, Valentin leaned up against one of the far walls, far away from everyone else, gasping for breath.

"What did you do, man?" Alfred demanded as they all crowded around him, Matthew sidestepping to block most of the sun coming from the nearby window that was streaming into their vampire friends face.

Valentin chuckled dryly, scarlet eyes weary.  
"I have never tried to trick so many people...I have limited mind control abilities, eye contact and I can switch around their thoughts for some of my own ideas. I managed about enough to trick each of the people who would have stopped us into thinking we had tickets and luggage and letting us through."

"That's incredible!" Arthur exclaimed.

Valentin nodded.

"Only one more to go, then we're on that plane and on our way."

He whispered, more to himself than to the others.

"Are you ok?"

"I've only done it for two people at the most at once...it was a stretch, that's why I didn't want to get your hopes up, _I_ didn't even think I was going to succeed." Valentin stated, he finally caught his breath and stood taller, pulling his hood lower over his head.

"So it tires you out?" Matthew guessed.

Valentin nodded.

"Immensely, but I can handle one more, than I'm trusting you to keep anyone from seeing what we are while I crash on the plane, and wake me up when we get there."

"We got you for that part." Arthur promised.

The boarding order came over the loudspeakers just then and Valentin led the way yet again.

A flash of his scarlet eyes in the flight attendants own eyes was all it took, and Valentin collapsed into a window seat on the plane, Arthur and Matthew sitting next to him, Alfred sitting across the isle.

The vampire slammed the thick shade down over the window and thudded back against his seat, hood scrunching low over his face.

"Thanks, Vali." Arthur whispered.

Valentin gave no notice to the nickname or even to the fact that Arthur had spoken at all, he was already drifting off to sleep.

 ** _7 hours later_**

"...entin? Vali! Bro, wake up, we made it!"

Alfred had to practically yell in Valentin's ear to arise him.

"O-Oh...sorry..." He mumbled shaking the sleep from his eyes, he felt nearly completely rejuvenated.

"C'mon, we gotta get off." Alfred ordered, dragged Valentin to his feet by the wrist and and out into the aisle.

Valentin realized what was expected of him again, and quickly took the lead.

As they exited the airport, he did the very same as he had in London, cutting them a path through all of the checkpoints by 'tricking' the attendants and workers into thinking they'd already completed their necessary tasks and were cleared to go through.

They exited the airport and Valentin scowled when he realized the time difference meant it wasn't night yet, like it was in London.

"Hey, remember your umbrella offer? I'm seriously considering taking you up on it...at least it was cloudy in London..."

Vali growled as he dragged his hood to an extreme low over his face, feeling the burn of the sun even through his thick clothes.

"Lucky for you the stories I've heard say New York's a hotspot for freak shows. You and your weird ribbon hat and overcoat should fit right in."

Alfred teased as they escaped around the back of the airport, hopping a fence and dodging into a couple miles gathering a trees before the city began.

Now shaded by the large thick leaved trees, Valentin lifted up his hood a bit more, freeing his scarlet eyes to glare at Alfred.

"Shut up, you don't know what it's like not to be able to turn your face up to the sun."

Alfred realized this was actually a touchy subject with his vampiric friend, and quickly raised his hands in a surrendering gesture.

"Sorry, bro, I didn't think..."

"That's fine, do you guys think I could just stay here for a while, how long till nightfall?"

"Dunno, but judging by the sun it's late afternoon, so you don't need to worry about it much longer."

"Why don't we just find a place to rest out here and head into the city once it's night, that way Valentin won't have to be wear his cloak?"

Matthew whispered shyly.

Valentin approved of this idea, but didn't want to be holding the trio back.  
"You guys go ahead and explore the city a bit, I'll find a shady spot around here and meet you in the skies later, alright?"

Arthur instantly looked concerned.

"No, no, we can stay here with you...after all..."

Valentin smiled wryly.

"I can protect myself even when the suns still shining, Arthur, no need to worry about me."  
Arthur didn't look very convinced since Valentin was still entirely shielding himself with his cloak, hood, and overcoat, but nodded reluctantly.

"Just watch yourself, alright?"

Valentin nodded and they went their separate ways, Valentin searching for a shaded area where he could sleep the rest of the day away. He'd long ago learned that, for whatever reason, the aura he gave off seemed to ward away any animals that may tried to harm him, he'd spent many a night in the forests these past months, hiding from the hunters.

He finally found a grouping of rocks surrounded by several thickly grown trees, and saw that the jutting rocks formed sort a of a cave that actually had a mammoth tree growing over it, the roots working their way down and around the the rocks, casting a large shadow with it's leaves.

Relieved at his good fortune, he shuffled briskly over to the rocky cropping and crawled into the cave, curling up in the very back and letting his hood drop around his shoulders, finally safe from the suns rays.

He dropped into slumber almost immediately.

 ** _After moonrise_**

Valentin's scarlet eyes blinked into alertness, and when he realized the bright moon was shining over the cave he'd hidden in, he felt immense relief, finally, he could go outside without worry of being burned, the day had felt that it would last an eternity.

Pulling himself from the cave, the vampire dusted the dirt from his red overcoat and removed his cloak, tossing it over his elbow. He opened the front of his overcoat, freeing it to hang to either side. He wore a simple white dress shirt, tie, and black dress pants beneath it.

Stepping out into the refreshing cool of night, Valentin made his way for a clearing he'd passed by on his way here, it had seemed like a good spot to take off from. He arrived at the clearing and rolled his shoulders, gladly pushing free his wings, they'd been folded tightly for hours, and were rather stiff. He beat them several times before taking off.

The rush was as breathtaking as ever, moments like this, when he could do what the human race had been chasing after for centuries, leave the ground behind him in flight without the aid of a machine or any device, made him actually proud of being a vampire.

He spiraled several times in front of the moon before turning toward the city, scanning the skies for signs of his friends.

 _I have to be careful, flying through an area like this, I could easily get spotted by a lucky tourist who just happened to have their camera pointed up at the sky._

Valentin thought to himself as he gave himself a large amount of height above the city as he flew, easily coming over the bright lights and flashing signs.

The lights dancing across his pale face, he swooped down slightly and ran along the top of a nearby skyscraper, laughing.

Jumping from the edge of the rooftop and gliding across to the next, he jogged to a stop, tucking his wings back as he peered over the edge.

 _We should have chosen a place to meet up..._

He thought in hindsight as he paced the top of the building. He was surprised at how quickly he'd passed over the glittery lights and landed in a more reserved part of the city, on top of a still very tall apartment building.

Glancing up, he spotted a trio of flying creatures passing in front of the moon. If anyone who didn't know better had seen them, they'd simply think.

 _I didn't know there were such large birds in this area._

Before continuing on their way.

Of course, Vali was someone who knew what he was looking for.

Breathing a sigh of relief between his fangs, Valentin jumped from the edge of the building, falling a few feet before he rose gracefully toward them.

As he approached he poured on the speed and easily overshot them before they noticed him, noting they were streaking towards the forest area.

"It's been four bloody hours! I knew we should have just stuck together!"

He heard Arthur proclaim.

Valentin sniggered at the brit being so panicked over him, and Alfred and Matthew looked to be too.

"I hope I didn't piss him off with that comment about his outfit...I wasn't really trying to offend him, I was just kidding!"

 _I knew that, I just found it funny to freak you out pretending I was angry._

Valentin thought to himself.

"If that's the case he might have just made his way onto another plane and back home." Matthew murmured.

 _Do they honestly think I'm that shallow, or are they just trying to freak themselves out more?_

Valentin was struggled to hold in his laughter as he flew silently above his friends, finally he couldn't take it anymore and called down to them.

"That worried about me? Really? I'm touched!"

"Vali!" All of them forgot to flap in surprise and yet again the vampire found a grin on his face, watching them tumble, Arthur and Alfred even smacking into each other, before each remembered they had wings.

Valentin rolled over onto his back for a moment, dipping downward and lifting back up in front of his friends.

"You think I'm that shallow that a stupid insult I could have cared less about would make me turn around and go home? I just overslept, you guys need to calm down."

Arthur looked like he was slowly recovering from a vampire induced seize in his heart, Alfred was waving his arms around yelling about how sorry he was for insulting Valentin's clothes, and Matthew just looked relieved.

"Maple...you had us worried, we all assumed the second the sun went down you'd be up and at it."

Valentin shrugged.

"Remember, I'm technically nocturnal, meaning that I'm used to sleeping the whole day and being up all night. I didn't get any sleep yesterday night, not much at least because my internal clock is telling me I'm supposed to be wide awake at two in the morning, then I was up all day today, when I was supposed to be asleep. I was just tired. So? See anything interesting?"

Arthur was slapping himself repeatedly in the head for not thinking of that explanation, and Alfred replied excitedly.

"We walked through the center of the city a bit! It's awesome! But we didn't find any other people like us, which bites..."

Valentin raised an eyebrow, smirking, to which Alfred shook his head and panicked again.

"I didn't mean it like that! Sorry!"

Valentin shook his head, letting out an amused huff.

"Go on."

"So we just wandered around for a while...didn't find anywhere with a roof for us to stay, though."

Valentin shrugged, "I found a rock grouping in the forest, but the cave in it is barely big enough for me to fit in, much less all four of us."

"We can sleep outside, it's more important for you to be in there so when the sun comes up you're covered."

"Yeah, you're right, I would appreciate it if we could find something bordering on an umbrella soon, as long as my face is shaded well I can deal with the sun for a fairly long while. I guess sleeping at night is just something I'm gonna have to get used to."

"Well, first order of business, find an umbrella for Valentin so he doesn't have to be stuck in a cave all day!" Alfred declared.

Valentin crossed his arms and leaned backward in the air.

"Well, let's go, I plan on taking advantage of the sun being down in the city that never sleeps!" He exclaimed, performing a backwards summer salt and angling off toward the city.

The fallen angel brothers caught up easily, and soon enough there wasn't a worry in the world for any of them.

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: And there we go!**_

 _ **Valentin: Surprisingly...nice.**_

 _ **Arthur: Yeah. We made it to New York no strings attached, we're safe, and no one has found us out so far. Wow. We're really lucky.**_

 _ **Amethyst: Nah. Things are gonna pick up in the next chapter. :D Starting with you guys meeting new friends! Soon there'll be so many characters running around through your brain space you won't know what to do with them all!  
**_

 _ **Matthew: Characters?**_

 _ **Amethyst: Did someone say something? I could'a sworn I heard someone...**_

 _ **Matthew: I'm right here...**_

 _ **Amethyst: Guess I'm just going crazy! Anyway! As I said, soon a lot of the characters any of you who read my other stories know I love to torture are gonna be showing up, and it'll be mostly downhill from there!**_

 _ **Arthur: For the story or for us?**_

 _ **Amethyst: Which do you think?  
**_

 _ **Alfred: Iggy, I'm scared.**_

 _ **Valentin: So are we all, Alfred, so are we all.**_

 _ **Matthew: I guess you guys can't here me either, but favorite, follow, and review! Thank you for reading and we'll see you all real soon!**_


	3. In which Toris falls into a hole

_**Ahem.**_

 _ **THE WEREWOLVES ARE COMING THE WEREWOLVES ARE COMING!**_

 _ **Ok we're all set! Here we go! Lets get it started!**_

* * *

 ** _Two hours later._**

"...and what exactly is that supposed to mean, Alfred?"

"I'm just saying that Vali's wings are way cooler than yours, yours are just plain black. In fact, all of us have coolers sets than you do!"

"Shut up, you git!"

This conversation of who had the coolest looking wings had been going on for about an hour now, and showed no signs of slowing.

"You know, if my wings are the coolest, than I'm paying for that 'coolness' by not being able to go out into the sun or go anywhere in the vicinity of a church without feeling physically ill."

Arthur scowled.

"Same here!" He cried.

"None of us can go near churches! I mean, our ancestors were shunned from heaven for a reason."

Arthur then put a finger to his chin.

"Granted I don't know what that reason is, but still."

Valentin rolled his eyes.

"Trust me, bat wings or not, you guys definitely have the better deal." Valentin stated, an amused expression on his face.

It was true, they had come rather close to a small church downtown that none of them had known was there and all of them had had a massive dizzy spell before having to find the nearest trash can. Alfred had been the only one to actually throw up, but everyone had been pretty close.

"Mattie's wings are so awesome too! They're streaked gold! I wish mine had done that!" Alfred moaned, crossing his arms as Matthew smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, Alfred...guess I was just born with it." He chuckled.

Valentin's ears suddenly pricked at a far away noise just then.

The sound of frantic running on the rooftops above.

"HOLD IT FREAK!"

"Just leave me alone!"

All of their heads snapped up to stare up at the roofs of the five to six level buildings out here on the outskirts of the big city. A silhouette in the moonlight had just vaulted over the gap between the buildings and was still running, pursued by several other forms.

The group all glanced to each other in concern before all of them nodded to one another and they all took a look to either side, confirming the street to be deserted before spreading their wings.

 ** _On the rooftops._**

Toris dove from one building to the next, sprinting across the next open cement area as the four men chasing him pursued close behind.

"Come on, dog boy! Just make this easier on yourself!" One of them shouted.

Toris didn't dignify that with a response, he just kept running.

He wore a green zip up hoodie atop a plain white tee shirt, worn down blue jeans, and sneakers. A bright blue ski cap was pulled down around his head, flattening out his longish wavy brown hair. He leapt across another gap over the alleyways and slammed hard into the edge of the next rooftop.

He gripped the cement so hard his fingers left indentations, crushing down the material as he dragged himself over the edge and started running again.

The brown haired teenager was brought to an abrupt halt at the next jump, realizing that the space was far to great, for the next building was several stories taller than the one he now stood on.

"Uh-oh, no where left to run?"

Toris turned around, backing slowly toward the edge as he fisted his hands.

"S-Stay back..." He stuttered, knowing he could probably take a few of them, but defeating all four without doing anything...regrettable...was out of the question.

"Don't you know how much the shady side of science would pay to get their hands on you?"

As the attackers closed in, Toris continued shuffling painstakingly close to the edge, until his heel caught on the unnoticed lip.

Letting out a horrified scream, Toris felt himself falling out into the empty space above a deadly six story fall.

His feet had just left the buildings edge when he felt someones elbows sliding up, hooking him under the arms.

"IS THAT A FREAKING ANGEL!?" He noted one of his pursuers crying out.

Screaming again, Toris found himself hurtling, not earthwards, but upwards.

"Calm down, mate!" Came a voice, the voice of whoever it was that had saved him.

Twisting his head and craning his neck, Toris stared up at a set of emerald eyes and for a moment all he saw was a blur of black feathers and a whipping leather jacket.

"Who are you!?" He choked out, not so much screaming anymore.

"Hang on!"

Was what he got as a reply as they dove into several barrel rolls, weaving down in between a few billboards and coming to a clumsy landing on a rooftop far from the hunters clutches.

The flying teen tripped upon landing with extra weight and the two of them tumbled to the cement roof, skidding a few feet before coming to a halt.

"You alright, chap?"

Arthur asked in concern instantly, coming to a stand and offering Toris a hand up.

"I-I-I..." Toris stumbled over his words, he just couldn't get over the fact that the boy standing before him, who appeared to be close to age in him, perhaps even younger, had wings.

"Umm...y-y-you...have..."

"Wings." Arthur completed for him, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Hope you won't tell anyone my little secret?" He asked shyly.

Toris shook his head quickly. "I would never! I just...I can't believe you can actually fly!"

"Why is it so hard to believe?" Arthur allowed himself to tip off of the edge of the roof, teetering comically on the edge for a moment, and Toris let out an involuntary gasp as the blonde dropped from sight.

Only to shoot back from the brink and circle with his entire body parallel to the roof of the building Toris stood upon.

Arthur glided around him in graceful circles, smiling slightly, keeping himself low enough to be at eye level with the other.

"What's your name?" Toris blurted out, realized he still didn't know it.

"Arthur. How about you?"

"My names Toris, nice you meet you." Toris replied, doing his best to look friendly.

"So, why were those men chasing you?"

Arthur asked, not bothering to land.

Toris was still mesmerized by the black jacket donning teen in flight, turning on his heel over and over in order to watch Arthur as he flew.

"Well, they're part of a secret privately funded facility that houses experimental projects. They catch people like us and get paid for it."

"I've been there." Arthur grumbled with a roll of his eyes.

"Besides, I'm not entirely human..." Toris said this next part softly.

Arthur's emerald eyes flew open wide and he instantly dropped his legs down from where he was supporting them in the air behind him, jogging easily to a stop on the cement.

"Really?" He asked, sounding excited.

Toris chuckled awkwardly and nodded.

"Well, I suppose I can tell you, you're obviously not entirely human either..."

"And what gave you _that_ idea?" Arthur asked in mock anger with a single flick of his feathers in an upwards motion.

"Well, I just hope you won't think I'm a monster like everyone else does."

"Think about it. If you're a monster, than so am I!" Arthur proclaimed, throwing his arms into the air.

Toris took a deep breath and swished his hips to the side once.

Arthur blinked in confusion until a sleek, furry wolves tail, about three and a half feet in length, was unravelled from beneath his hoodie.

"Whoa..." Arthur began as the tail, tipped with white and full with silky brown fur otherwise, lifted up to be poised just to the right of Toris's hips.

Arthur was about to say something when Toris reached up and yanked off his ski cap.

A pair of wolf ears, tipped with white fur, the rest a slightly darker brown than his hair, poked up from where they'd lain in hiding.

"You, you've got wolf ears! And a tail!"

Toris smiled honestly at Arthur's shock.

"I'm a werewolf. But not a full blooded one! My grandfather was one and he passed it down into my mother and into me. All of them are dead now, so it doesn't really matter anyway." Toris didn't seem the slightest bit perturbed at speaking of his deceased relatives.

Arthur chuckled, "Trust me, I know the feeling of having it passed down to you." He said happily before blinking twice more and slapping himself in the forehead.

"Bloody hell! I totally forgot!" He yelped.

"Be right back!" He promised his the newest less than human friend he'd made before diving off of the edge as if he were a swimmer diving into a pool. His feet left the building and he went swooping away into the darkness of the alley's below.

Toris stood worriedly, tail and ears still exposed, as he tucked his ski cap into his hoodie pocket, and slung the hood of his jacket over his ears instead, partially covering them.

"...totally raced off without us, bro, how am I supposed to be the hero when your the one who goes flying off with no warning!?"

"Calm down, Alfred, you can be the hero next time."

"You're the best Mattie!"

Toris gawked in shock as Arthur returned, but this time he lead three other winged boys, one seemed his age, and the others were nearly identical and slightly younger.

They all landed on the roof next to Toris, and Arthur smiled charmingly.

"Toris, meet more freaks like the rest of us! We're getting more common these days, eh?"

"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Matthew." The quiet blonde with the violet eyes's greeting was practically washed away by the similar looking boy with the white streaked wings.  
"DUDE YOU HAVE A WOLF TAIL THAT IS SO FREAKING AWESOME!"

The fallen angel exclaimed as he raced excitedly over to him.

"My names Alfred! I was gonna be your hero but Arthur's faster than me!"

Alfred huffed after this remark as Arthur laughed.

"Sorry, dear brother, but I am the eldest." Arthur teased lightly, patting Alfred on the head.

"If I can get more than two words in?"

The final of the boys walked up to Toris and offered a handshake.  
"My names Valentin, nice to meet you, Toris."

Toris couldn't help by gawk at the fangs in that friendly smile, the ruby red eyes flashing in the street lamps light, and the bat like wings.

"Y-Y-You're..." His stutter had returned as he shook hands with Vali.

"Go ahead, say it, he's not touchy on the topic or anything." Arthur said nonchalantly, Valentin flashed him a look, but it didn't seem to be incredibly intimidating, more like a playful anger.

"You look like a vampire." The werewolf said shyly.  
"Ding, ding, ding! You have a winner! And if you can guess what the heck our trio is, you'll win a free flight home!" Alfred sang as he walked backwards over to his unsuspecting brothers and seized one of them under each arm.  
"You git let me go!"

"Alfred, please, I don't like it when you grab me!"

The whisper screams and furious yells that followed didn't give Toris much of a guess, but he was able to piece together enough.

"I would guess that you're angels, but your wings are black." He said, calming now that he was learning more about these kind winged teens.

"Oooo, so close! The correct answer? Fallen angels!" Alfred sang as he released both of his brothers simultaneously, grinning.

Said brothers seemed to have their feathers ruffled by their rough treatment and, while one was scowling and looking full prepared to give the reckless boy a noogie, the other was blushing furiously and apologizing profusely for his twins behavior.

Toris couldn't help but laugh at this family, how they could have gotten themselves locked out of heaven was a mystery to him.

"So, um, should we get off of the roof now?" Valentin suggested dryly, he'd been standing by, buttoning up his long red overcoat, and straightening the tie he wore underneath it.

"Oh, yeah, good idea."

"I got Toris!"

Before the werewolf could even protest he yet again felt a pair of arms snaking around his chest and lifting him off of the ground.

He'd already guess who it was.

"ALFRED!" He wailed as they shot straight up, he watched in horror the ground dropped away beneath him.

Arthur couldn't help but laugh as he took off behind them, followed by Matthew and Valentin.

"Toris! Toris! You can open your eyes now, I'm not gonna drop you."

Alfred promised as they leveled off far higher than any of the skyscrapers that made up the skyline in the distance.

Slowly, the werewolf cracked one eye open, not releasing his vice like grip on the angels forearm for fear of falling.

He found himself breathless with the feeling of flight.

"Wow...you guys get to do this all the time?" Toris breathed.

"WHAT!?" Valentin yelled from one side.

"SORRY MATE! IT'S REAL WINDY TONIGHT! CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

Toris sighed and screamed the same sentence up to the one who was carrying him.

"OH, YEAH, WE DO! IT'S OUR MAIN WAY OF GETTING AROUND!"

Alfred screeched in reply.  
"LET'S HEAD DOWN!" Valentin called, recognizing how early in the morning it was, very soon he would have to retreat to the cave he'd found in the forest to sleep the day away.

Agreeing to this suggestion, the winged of the group angled themselves downward.

Toris felt the very strong urge to let his tongue hang out like a dog sticking it's head out of a car window but decided against it.

They came to a running landing at the edge of the forest Valentin had thought of earlier.

"So, Toris, have you got any other friends that are...different?"

Toris smiled.

"Actually, I do. Two of them. We all live together in a small apartment not far from where you guys saved me. Thanks for that, by the way, I would have killed if it weren't for you, Arthur."

"Pleased to be of help." Arthur replied.

"I suppose we'll be sleeping out here then." Arthur began, looking over to the cave.

"Dude, I soooo want to just have some sort of, I dunno, house? Last time I lived in an actually building it was an freaking lab!" Alfred groaned.  
"I had a house. A pretty big one with a garden and two floors. In Romania. That got burned to the ground by angry people with stakes and pitchforks..."

Valentin sighed and Matthew patted him on the back.

Toris looked over to the rocks and frowned, sniffing at the air.

"What is it? Something wrong?" Arthur asked as Toris bent his knees slightly and made his way over to the rocks, taking in the scent of the cave.

"Well, thing is, there's air coming up, a sort of gentle breeze, from in there."

Toris, curiosity getting the better of him, crawled into the cave and pawed around for a moment before pushing down on the ground at the very back of the cave.

He let out a bark as his entire upper body tumbled into a chute.

"HELP!" He wailed as he went sliding down a chaotic tunnel, slick with moss.

"Toris!"

All of the winged boys outside crowded around the edge of the cave in shock.

The werewolf could think of nothing better to do other then scream as he plunged down into the darkness.

* * *

 ** _Amethyst: Theres your werewolf, guys._**

 ** _Toris: ...where are we?_**

 ** _Amethyst: THE SIGN OFF ROOM!_**

 ** _Valentin: Hell._**

 ** _Amethyst: Rude!_**

 ** _Arthur: Yet unsurprisingly accurate._**

 ** _Amethyst: Shut up!_**

 ** _Yao: So, erm, are we coming over soon, aru? Or..._**

 ** _Amethyst: NO TALKING UNTIL YOUR INTRO! *Punts Yao back to China* Don't leave Kiku over there to manage your idiotic family alone!_**

 ** _Everyone: ...scary..._**

 ** _Alfred: Hope you liked the chapter! Favorite, follow, and review everyone! Thanks bros!_**


	4. The Sanctuary

**_Alright, lets see, to recap, Valentin's house got burned down, Arthur had a tragic childhood, Alfred and Matthew are twins with wings, and Toris fell in a hole._**

 ** _On track now?_**

 ** _Great, next chapter, enjoy!_**

* * *

Toris was sliding backwards on his back, screaming his throat raw as he shot down the smoothed stone shoot.

All of the sudden, the previously small slide like passage opened up, and he found himself spinning like a top on his shoulders as he came to rest in a small hollowed out cave deep underground.

"Ugh..." He stood and groaned before hearing voices from up above, barely audible from how far down he'd fallen.

"Toris! Toris! You ok?"

"I'm fine!" Toris shouted back as he turned in a slow circle before seeing the wall of the cave.

"Whoa..." Toris looked up at the images, faded paintings of vampires, werewolves, fallen angels, and other types of semi-human creatures he didn't recognize.

"This is insanity." He whispered as he inched slowly towards the tunnel at the opposite end of the cave.

He walked a little ways into it, and arriving in an incredible spot.

Runes flickered through the air, Toris didn't believe in magic, but after seeing this, he was going to be checking for monsters under the bed forever. The cavern was lit by the brightly glowing golden runes, intertwined with other runes of blue and purple. Toris passed through a band of them, and felt a warmth spread through him. It was at least fifty feet to the ceiling, Toris had no clue how far underground he was. There were periodic hollowed out spaces in the walls, some even held rotted out furniture showing someone had once lived there. In the very center of the cavern, there was a stone pedestal, on which there was, in gorgeous carved letters, written a phrase.

"In hope that our race will persevere, and come together once again."

Toris read aloud, then he saw there was a sort of rhyme carved beneath this phrase. He also read this aloud.

" _We who are different then those who dwell above._

 _We who are searching for a place to live and to love._

 _We who are gifted with strength, speed, and flight._

 _We who need a place to rest during the night._

 _We know that the future for us is filled with strife._

 _But we know those who come next will persevere through this life._

 _To our children, their children, and the ones after that._

 _We leave gifts from the myths of the dragon, dove, wolf, and bat._

 _From these and other creatures we all draw our inner flame._

 _For it is these creatures of myth we have to thank and to blame._

 _Breaking the boundaries between our world and theirs._

 _It is us who were born, and it is their burden we now bear._

 _The normal people would do nothing to help or understand._

 _So this is why we have formed our greatest, most dangerous plan._

 _You must bring together the others who feel fear and brave hate._

 _You must gather together the others to avoid a terrible fate._

 _To help those of the future who are shunned from birth._

 _To you, we leave this sanctuary, use it for what it's worth."_

Toris frowned in confusion at the strange poem when the ground started shaking.

"W-What?" He stuttered as suddenly the empty hollows were being magically refurbished, curtains were woven from thin air in bright colors of purple, green, blue, pink, and red, drawing shut over the freshly furnished hollows. Toris gasped and backpedaled as the ground beneath him became a lot more wet, the pedestal was now in front of a magnificent fountain spurting fresh drinking water. The runes glowed brighter and Toris felt heat coming from them. The werewolf spun to see the rock suddenly growing thick with grass and flowers, and odd plants in neat rows. He saw a vegetable garden growing itself to the far corner of the massive expanse of the cave floor.

Toris spun to see the rock of the walls shifting, he saw ladders coming straight out of the gray, leading up to the hollows.

"Oh my god..." Toris whispered as the shaking halted. He now stood in the center of a flowering ground, in front of a gorgeous fountain. He saw a dragon, a bat, a dove, and a wolf making up the statues spewing water.

Toris whirled and ran back to the pedestal, looking down to see it had become a paper and ink book, the cover holding the same inscription 'In hopes that our race with persevere, and come together once again.' The first page held the poem Toris had just read, and from then on there were chapters about all of the creatures.

Breathing quickly in astonishment, Toris saw chapters on vampires, on werecats, and on sprites. Psychics and half-demons, magicians and phantoms, everything was inside this incredible tome. He flipped the pages faster. Faye of every shape and form, beautiful sirens who allured men to their deaths, powerful half dragon hybrids called dragon spawns, sons and daughters of the gods, called by the name of their holy ancestors. Strange shape shifting beings too walked the earth, able to changed to smoke and back, something called a berchtold, who can shoot any target given, water spirits named kelpies. Harpies, creatures of faked beautiful who are in fact weathered warriors. There were so many creatures from every corner of the world, and while this is book contained some the werewolf was aware of, most were completely obscure, and he'd never heard of them before. Toris tried to lift up the book, but it was attached firmly to the pedestal. Hesitantly, Toris attempted to gently tear an empty page from the very back of the mammoth book. The page was impossible to tear. Even when Toris put all his strength into it, he couldn't make even the tiniest rip.

"I don't believe it." He breathed, looking around at the beautiful cavern filled with light and life.

He looked back to the book and flipped to the first page.

 _They who came before us._

Toris smiled.

"Thank you." He breathed.

Then he remembered that he had several friends probably convinced he'd fallen to his death.

He turned and, regretfully, ran from the cavern, down the tunnel filled with paintings of all of the mythic creatures, and back to the tunnel.

He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that the top of the tunnel had been given a ladder, in order to assist Toris and others in getting out of the cavern.

Toris began to climb and soon reached high enough to see Valentin dangling halfway into the tunnel, squinting into the darkness.  
"I see him!" He called back.

Toris reached out and took the hand Valentin had stretched out in his direction, holding the pose for a moment.

"You won't believe what I found!" Toris exclaimed, bordering on full on dancing in joy.  
"What?" Valentin asked.

"Come on!" Toris suddenly dropped his legs and kept his grip on Valentin's hand.  
"YIPE!"

The romanian was abruptly yanked away down the shoot along with Toris.

He heard the fallen's yelling after them as they spun off down the tunnel, Toris releasing Valentin now that he was stuck in the slide.  
"AHHHH!"  
Valentin yelled as he slid on his stomach down into the bottom of the shoot, where he landed on top of Toris.

"Why?" Valentin demanded.  
"INCOMING!"

"Oof!" Valentin and Toris were crushed by Alfred, followed by Arthur, followed by Matthew.  
"Why...?" Valentin repeated defeatedly.

"This way! You guys have to see this!" Toris wriggled out from under the pile, getting to his feet, and ran to the edge of the tunnel, vanishing into it.

Toris breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the sanctuary was still there, just as breathtaking as before.

The others ran after him, after taking in the paintings in the tunnel, they were abruptly silent and completely astonished by the place.

"This is awesome!"

Alfred cried out, taking off instantly from the ground to get an aerial view.

"Mattie! Get up here! You gotta check it out from the air!" Alfred called down as he circled up to the top of the fifty foot cavern, grinning.

Matthew silently spread his wings and took off after his twin.

"Arthur, take a look at this." Toris beckoned the brit over and the two poured over the book as Valentin began to climb one of the ladders to the side of the cave.

Arthur read the poem aloud and nothing new happened.

Frowning, the brit flipped the page, and now he was faced with more spidery, scrawled handwriting in the jet black ink.

Toris leaned over, chocolate brown eyes soaking up the words.

Arthur took a breath and recited the text as it was given.

" _To enter one must pull the faye girls wings,_

 _and touch a finger to each of the werewolves golden rings._

 _The twin sirens grow jealous, so do not risk your head,_

 _give them each a kiss to the lips, to cherish in your stead._

 _From there you must stare, for the chance will be brief,_

 _to the god of knowledge, who wears in his hair a decorative leaf._

 _Meet his gaze, until he breaks from your look,_

 _then place both palms firmly to the cover of his book._

 _He will be satisfied, you have earned your way into the lair._

 _He will open the path for you, move swiftly, if you dare."_

Toris read this off.

"What the bloody hell does that mean?" Arthur exclaimed in confusion.

Toris mumbled the first part of the poem under his breath.

"Pull the faye girls wings...touch the werewolves golden rings...I think I get it!"

Toris tugged on Arthur's wrist.

"Come on!"

He dragged the man to the exit tunnel, and it was only now that they realized that a massive block of stone had slid down to separate them from the rest of the sanctuary.

"What the!?" Arthur darted to the stone and pushed at it, trying to force it open.

It didn't budge.

Meanwhile, Toris was taking in the faded, yet still vividly beautiful paintings that decorated the walls.

"Pull the faye girls wings..." He murmured, before he spotted a small faye with long braids of purple hair hovering directly next to a hulking, beastly wolf man with a ring on each finger.

Toris reached out.

"Pull the faye girls wings." He spoke louder as he rubbed his hands against the detailed butterfly wings that protruded from the paintings back.  
"Touch each of the werewolf's golden rings."

Out of all of the rings the painting donned, only three were gold, and Toris tapped each with a single finger.

"The sirens grow jealous, do not risk your head...give each a kiss to cherish in your stead..."

"What are you doing?" Arthur demanded as Toris bent to the two identical half fish women who were intertwined with a rock that they were resting on within the artwork of the wall.

He pressed a kiss to each of their lips.  
"Toris! You just kissed a wall?" Arthur barked in confusion.  
"Your chance will be brief."

Toris engaged into an intense staring contest with one of the biggest figures on the wall, a man with several leaves woven into his hair, who held in his loose grasp a single book of a faded out red color.

Arthur let out a surprised yelp when the paintings eyes lowered.

Toris rushed forward and placed both of his hands, palms down, flat upon the cover of the book the man held.

"He will open the path for you. Move swiftly!"

Toris darted away when the stone slab rose with a grinding sound.

He seized Arthur by the arm and dragged him under the tablet.

A few moments later the slab was lowered slowly back down.

Arthur turned to Toris, looking astonished.  
"How did you figure that out?"

Toris shrugged.

"Seems simple enough to me, the poem is just instructions, personifying the paintings. We'll all have to memorize it, that way we can get in and out. It's a way of protecting this place."

As the two of them continued to discuss the instructional literature presented in the tome, Valentin had slipped behind one of the purple curtains covering the hollows. He gave a soft gasp, for he was astounded. A queen sized bed was tucked into the back corner, and a waist high wall separated him from the large drop. There was a desk, and a mirror, and a dresser as well. There was a large comfy armchair, along with a beside table. He smiled at the mirror, his hat floated in the air, and his clothes appeared to be moving on his own, for vampires didn't have reflections.

He turned and drew back the curtains. "You guys have to check out the hollows!" The vampire called.

Alfred promptly ducked and vanished into one behind a curtain, Matthew swooping after him.  
"AWESOME!" Alfred's voice rang out.

Toris then exclaimed with a panicked yelp.  
"Crap! Crap! What time is it!?"

He instantly looked around for some sort of way of telling time.

Unfortunately, the grounds of the cavern had been designed without any sort of time telling system.

Arthur came to the rescue and glanced at his watch.  
"It's nearly one in the morning." He reported.

"I've got to go! My friends were expecting me back by eleven!" Toris exclaimed.

"I'll go with you. Vali!"

Valentin peeked out from behind another curtain, he was exploring the different hollows.

"Keep an eye on those two for me, will you?"

"Aye, captain!" Valentin replied with a salute before jumping right out over the railing wall of the hollow and flapping his bat wings, lifting upwards to join the twins.

Arthur turned back to Toris.

"Let's go."

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: Much poetry, little success.**_

 _ **Valentin: I thought they were pretty good.**_

 _ **Amethyst: VALI! *Tackle hugs Valentin***_

 _ **Valentin: HELP! ME!**_

 _ **Fallen Angel Trio: Nah.**_

 _ **Valentin: After all I did for you! *Succumbs to hug attack***_

 _ **Amethyst: *Jumps up* How was that? I wanted it to be a bit harder to get into the sanctuary, can't have any old human waltzing in, can we?**_

 _ **Toris: Definitely. Super lucky I fell down that specific hole, huh?**_

 _ **Everyone: Yup.**_

 _ **Amethyst: Well, that about sums up this riveting sign off room session.**_

 ** _Alfred: Well, we didn't have much to talk about...I mean, like you said in the beginning. Vali's house burnt down, Iggy's tragic childhood, me and Mattie are twins, and Toris fell in a hole. That's all that's happened so far._**

 ** _Amethyst: That'll be changing soon enough...MWAHAHAHAHAHA_**

 ** _Arthur: Now I'm worried. Thank you all so much for reading! Please do read again next chapter, we look forward to seeing all of you chaps there! Cheers!_**


	5. Assemble, the werewolf trio!

_**I have no idea how to write Estonia, and I don't even really like him that much. He always annoyed me. He was in one of my other stories for like thirty seconds. Then I had him get attacked and separated from the rest of the groups. Because I don't like him. I love all Hetalia characters EXCEPT him, actually. Thats why I replaced him with the fabulous Poland in this. :P Sorry Estonia lovers. :D You're welcome Poland lovers.**_

* * *

 ** _At Toris's shared apartment._**

"I'm, like, getting, totally worried." Feliks said as he paced the small living room. It wasn't much, a living room, a tiny kitchenette, a single bedroom shared between the three.

Ravis looked over at the blonde.

"I-I'm s-sure he is f-fine." The short light brown haired boy said, he was the youngest of the oddball trio, and had nearly a constant stutter to his voice. Even more oddball considering they were all werewolves.

"Guys!" As if on queue, Toris burst into the apartment.

"So sorry, something crazy happened!"

"Tory!"

Toris was promptly seized into a hug by Feliks, revealing a blonde standing behind the brown haired werewolf.

"Eep!" Ravis dropped down behind the counter in the small kitchen, covering his wolf ears with his hands, his tail curled around his feet.

Feliks was wearing a green military hat and his tail was tucked under his jacket, so he was safe, yet he was on defense.

"Who, like, is that?"

"Uh, here, come on in, Arthur." Arthur entered and shut the door behind him.

Feliks realized Toris had his ears uncovered as his tail in the open and gawked.

"How did you get here with your tail hanging out!?" He demanded.

"I flew. Arthur flew me."

"Flew?" Ravis asked, crawling and peeking around the edge of the countertop, ears pressed flat against his head.

"Let's just get this out of the way." Arthur sighed as he stepped into the living room and opened up his wings partly, bringing them around to wrap around him like a feathery cloak, hiding his upper body behind sleek black.

"Like, whoa..." Feliks said, staring.

Ravis shuffled over, still on his hands and knees, and sat back as Toris ran off intros.  
"Arthur, this is Ravis, and this is Feliks."

"Pleasure." Arthur suddenly had a lot of new names to remember

"Anyway, guys, we're going on a little trip, c'mon!"

Toris dug his ski cap from his pocket and put it on as Ravis stood up and hurried into the bedroom, returning a few moments later with a red hoodie, a navy scarf around his neck, and a matching navy cap on his head. Feliks was already dressed, and so the group left the apartment, Toris barely containing his excitement to showing his friends what he'd discovered.

 ** _Back at the Sanctuary's cave entrance._**

"Arthur, you go ahead." Toris said.

Arthur nodded and crawled into the cave entrance.

"Wait, you dragged us all the way out into the woods to show us a tiny little cave?"

"Cave, yes, tiny, no." Toris said as he backed into the cave.

"Just trust me."

Feliks sighed, if he trusted anyone, he trusted Toris, so he got down on his hands and knees and crawled into the cave.

"Down here." Toris crawled backwards the small yard and half of space to the hole.

"Just...drop!"

Toris slipped into the shoot and vanished from sight.

"Whoa! Tory, wait for me!" Feliks cried out, diving headfirst into the shoot, followed by Ravis.

After some screaming, Feliks found himself landing on top of Toris, and young Ravis landing on top of him.

After untangling themselves, Feliks brushed off his gray jeans, colorful pink shirt, and green jacket before turning to Toris.

"What's, like, down here, anyway?"

"Y-Y-Yeah, this is weird..." Ravis added shyly.

"C'mon!" Toris raced to the tunnel, Feliks and Ravis glanced at each other, shrugged, and ran after him.

"Whoa..."

The two were stunned by the sight of the height of the cavern, and the many hollows, starting at only five feet above the ground and continuing upwards.

"This is, like, totally fabulous Tory!" Feliks exclaimed in awe as he went prancing in to the cavern. Arthur had returned to reading the tome, which was still resting on the pedestal in front of the fountain.

Alfred was flying in circles laughing for some reason, and Matthew was sitting on the edge of one of the hollows, watching him, looking amused.

Valentin appeared from behind a curtain.

"Hey! More people!" He cried before gliding to the ground.  
Introductions were given all around, and after a little while, Feliks exclaimed.  
"So, we're, like gonna live here now, right?"

All of the gathered nonhumans glanced at each other.  
"I'm cool with that, bros!" Alfred spoke first.

"I'll stay with Alfred." Matthew said softly.

Alfred put him in a headlock and mussed up his pale blonde hair while exclaiming about how he had the best twin ever.

"I'll stay. Not like I've got anywhere else to call home." Valentin said simply, crossed his arms and looking around at the remainder of the group.

"I can't leave these idiots alone." Arthur said.

"I-I-I r-r-really don't w-want to be a-alone so I'd l-like to s-stay." Ravis stuttered.

Toris nodded, "Of course I'll stick around."  
"Great! I guess 'our race' has 'come together once again' huh?" Alfred asked, referring to the tome.

"Yeah, I guess so. I mean, we've got a bat, we've got some wolves, we've got some doves. All we're missing is the dragon."  
"And dozens of other species of myth creatures just like us who apparently exist way more then I though they did." Arthur deadpanned.

Toris walked back over to the tome and flicked to the empty page in the back.

He gasped when he saw something new had appeared.  
"Guys! Check it out!"

Everyone gathered around the tome, Ravis having to stand on the edge of the fountain in order to see.

It was a map of New York, spread across the two empty pages at the back of the tome. And there were little blips moving across it. Six gathered together, several groups of two, and plenty moving alone.

"What are they?" Arthur asked.

It was as if the tome wanted to answer, for then the legend for the map inked itself out, as if an invisible hand was sketching it with a fresh ink pen.

The dots represented other myth creatures.

"Bloody hell there are dozens of them!" Arthur cried out, watching the dots moving across the page.

Toris recalled the poem in his mind and flipped back to it.

"Look here!"

He cried, underlining several lines with his finger.

" _You must bring together the others who without reason feel fear and brave hate. You must gather together the others to avoid a terrible fate."_ He read aloud.

"So, we have to bring together the others? Does that mean we have to FIND all of these people?" Feliks demanded, paging back to the map and pointing at the many moving dots.  
"Yes." Valentin said firmly.

"I've been on my own my entire life and now, all of the sudden, we're all here, together. Strength in numbers, right?" The vampire asked weakly.

The others looked about the circle of faces skeptically.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." Arthur said slowly, gaining a few unconfident nods.

"Well then." Toris slammed the tome shut, looking at the inscription on the front.

"Let's give it a shot. But first we need to get this place situated, we need to know every hollow and inch before we start inviting people in. As well as memorize both poems written in the tome."

Alfred groaned loudly.

"But they're so long..."

Valentin raised an eyebrow.  
"So you'd rather get locked out of here and have to wait in the cave surrounded by all of those paintings until someone arrives to let you in?"

Alfred groaned double time. "Touché."

Ravis glanced up at the ceiling hanging so far above him, being in this place made him feel rather small. But in a warm sort of way, the same way falling into a large, fluffy bed would make someone feel.

"Why not explore for a while?" He suggested quietly.

Matthew nodded. "Good idea."

So they split up, each moving to investigate a different corner of the mammoth cave.

 ** _Several hours later._**

A group of exhausted myth creatures were lying in a circle on the soft grass of the field, the ones of them among the winged with their wings spread full length, flat on the grass.

"Dude...this place is HUGE." Alfred groaned, he'd flown through every hollow up to the very top of the cavern, saving the ground bound ones the trouble of climbing all the way up there.

"Indeed." Arthur agreed, he'd scoured the ground area, discovering a large pond deep enough to swim in and, he was shocked to find, several underwater dwellings, as well as what he suspected was an exit, he could see a little ways down into the tunnel from the surface, were they expected to find myth creatures that were water bound as well?

"I, like, totally need a nap." Feliks groaned.

"It is three AM." Matthew pointed out.  
"You do realize that's like...five in the afternoon to me?" Valentin asked.

"Oh yeah..." Everyone else hummed.

Valentin sighed.  
"I wonder if there's some way I can bash my inner clock hard enough to make me not feel so damn sleepy during the day." He mumbled.

"You guys...do you really think we should do this? Bring them together like the book says?" Matthew asked.

Alfred, still splayed on the ground, spoke.

"Well, I for one think it's a good idea. There is strength in numbers, after all."

A few hums of a agreement circled the group and all was silent again.

Valentin stared up at the ceiling, his bat like wings spread flat on the ground beneath him, arms flung up to either side in between Arthur and Toris.

"Hey...Arthur?"

He didn't get a response.

The vampire sat up slowly and saw that each and every one of his friends had fallen asleep.

"Oh...three AM...right." He grumbled as he laid back down, he had to start making himself sleep at night, or else he'd always been asleep when they were awake and awake when they were asleep.

And where was the fun in that?

* * *

 ** _Amethyst: You'll have to forgive me for some shorter chapters coming up. I wanted to give each debuting character their own chapter, so in the coming chapters you can expect chapters to be 1,000 words or less. But after that to make up for it the chapters get ridiculously long. One of them is over 3,500 words. Anyway, another main character will be debuting next chapter! :D_**

 ** _Kaiser: Me?_**

 ** _Amethyst: *Makes to punt* ...crap. *Drops out of punting position* I can't kick something that adorable. It's worse then kicking a newborn kitten. Kaiser sweetheart, you need to leave, you can come back once you debut. Which will be ASAP. Ok?_**

 ** _Kaiser: Ok! Bye bye! *Skips off.*_**

 ** _Amethyst: Bye! Be careful! Love you! Don't get lost, baby!_**

 ** _Yao: And yet you punted me across the Pacific..._**

 ** _Amethyst: *Punts Yao across the Pacific*_**

 ** _Yao: I'LL BE BACK, ARU! *Fades away*_**

 ** _Amethyst: I swear..._**

 ** _Valentin: So glad I debuted first chapter._**

 ** _Amethyst: In Call us Small I'm pretty sure I kicked you over the Atlantic like five times._**

 ** _Valentin: Oh. Well then._**

 ** _Amethyst: I'm not apologizing._**

 ** _Valentin: Noted. Please favorite, follow, and review! Thanks for reading!_**


	6. Life of a teenage faye

**_Please enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _The next day._**

Feliks yawned as his eyes creaked open. He expected to be lying in his shared bed with Toris and Ravis.

He felt soft grass beneath himself and looked to the side to see a pale blonde it took him several seconds to recognize as Matthew.

Memories flooded back, and just like that, the previous day was clear as crystal in his mind.

Feliks sat up, though slowly so not to wake the others, and looked all around the spacious cavern they'd found.

 _Not just any cavern...it's home._

With an excited grin, Feliks stood and decided he wanted to read up on some of the others. Especially Valentin.

He darted silently over to the tome in front of the water fountain, and began paging through it, searching for the chapter on vampires.

 _Valentin seems to have a lot of issues concerning being able to stick with us. He can't be exposed to the sun, he has trouble sleeping at night, and he needs to drink blood every now and again to stay alive._

Feliks found the chapter he was searching for and began to read.

 _Can't see his own reflection either? Man, that's, like, not cool._

After reading the chapter on vampires, he found himself reading about fallen's as well.

 _They can't go near churches? Well I suppose if they're the descendants of fallen angels, that makes some sense._

"Feliks?"

Feliks slammed the tome shut and spun around to see Ravis, rubbing his eye sleepily.

"What are you doing up?" He asked.

Feliks laughed.

"Just some reading. Y'know, this place, like, totes needs some sort of clock, I may not be able to see the sun, but I'll bet its, like, eleven in the morning!"

Ravis glanced back at the other myth creatures, still sound asleep on the grass.

"Should we wake them up?"

He asked.

Feliks shrugged.

"I guess so, we've got things to do."

Ravis nodded and edged over to Arthur, reaching down and gently shaking the brits shoulder.

Arthur opened his eyes slowly and instantly yawned.

"Thats got to be the best I've slept in years...oh, morning Ravis."

Arthur sat up and stretched, and Ravis had to jump backwards to avoid getting hit when Arthur's wings mimicked his arms, reaching up into the air.

Feliks was tickling Toris and eventually he awoke, coughing on laughter.

"Cut it out!"

Toris rolled over and onto his hands and knees.

He instantly looked around, taking in the cavern.

"It still exists. This has to be a miracle."

He commented as Valentin remained dead to the world, despite Arthur shaking his shoulders.

"Are we sure Vali didn't get staked last night or something? Because he's not waking up." Arthur grumbled.

Alfred had just been woken up by Ravis, and now Matthew was sitting up, all of the group were awake.

"I got it."

Alfred took a comically large breath and screamed.

"FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE!"

"AHHH!"

Valentin bolted awake and literally ten feet into the air before Arthur could even let go of him, dragging the brit up with him.

Arthur's own wings broke his fall as Valentin clutched at his chest.

"Do...not...do...that..." He ordered.

Alfred was rolling on the ground laughing and Matthew shook his head bemusedly at him.

After double checking there was no fire, Valentin came back down to the ground and snapped his wings up, the tips reaching nearly three feet above his head.

Toris saw this and crossed his arms.

"It's interesting how all of your guys have such big wings. They almost look like they're to big for you."

The werewolf commented.

"I wish I, like, could fly." Feliks pouted.

Alfred smirked evilly.

"Do you now?"

"Yeah I...NOPE NOPE NOPE!"

Alfred had spread his black and white streaked wings and shot forward, his arms snapping around Feliks's chest and lifting him from the ground.

Alfred instantly hurtled upwards and did several barrel rolls, Valentin was laughing at them, Ravis looked surprised at Alfred's strength, and Arthur was yelling at Alfred to put Feliks down.  
"I TAKE IT BACK! I TAKE IT BACK!" Feliks wailed.

"You sure, bro?" Alfred called back, not before performing a full loop-de-loop.

"YES! POSITIVE!"

Alfred stopped his wild aerial acrobatics and glided gently back down to the ground, setting Feliks back on his own two feet.

The werewolf tumbled to the grass.

"I swear I'll never complain about being earthbound ever again." He moaned, looking green faced.

Alfred grinned.

"Great! We've all got strengths and weaknesses, right dudes? We should be happy with what myth has given us! At least, that's what the tome thing says." He exclaimed.

Valentin rubbed his eyes.  
"I actually managed to sleep through half the night. That's a major accomplishment." He said, then he ran his tongue over his fangs.  
"Man, I'm starved!"

Everyone stared at him in horror.

Valentin looked from face to face in confusion.

"What? I could really go for some breakfast. You guys didn't think I meant blood, did you? I only drink it like, once a month! Not even!" He cried, waving his arms in the air.

"Sorry."

Feliks had taken the opportunity to dart over to the tome.

"I'm done with sitting around! Let's go find more friends!"

He opened the book to the final page to show the map. After a few moments the dots began to appear one by one.

"Ok, so here's the rock formation that is the entrance to the sanctuary."

Arthur took command, pointing to the gathering of the rocks on the paper.

"And so that makes the nearest myth creature...a little ways into the city, it appears. Right here!" Arthur pointed to the nearest dot, and all of them stared at it for a little while, it didn't move.

"I have a question, what if they move while we're out looking for them?" Feliks asked, raising a hand.

"We'll just have to move fast!" Arthur ordered.

"Alright..."

Valentin sighed as he pulled on his heavy red overcoat and tied his black cloak onto his shoulders, pulling up the hood.

"You look like an escapee from a nerd convention." Alfred pointed out.

"Didn't we go over this?" Valentin snapped at the insult to his attire.

Feliks grinned then, snapping his fingers.

"I have an idea!"

Valentin stared at him.

"I don't like where this is going."

"I'll take Vali and we'll give him a modern make over! You guys go meet this myth creature before he takes off!"

Feliks then seized Valentin by the hand.  
"See you guys later! C'mon!"

"Why me!?"

Thus, the vampire was dragged away by the overly excitable werewolf.

The rest of the myth creatures listened as Feliks and Valentin clambered up the tunnel and towards the surface.

Matthew sighed softly.

"I suppose we should go too."

He said, turning to his brothers and the remaining two werewolves.

"Correct you are! Let's move, bro! We'll get there first! Amazing fallen twins, AWAY!"

Alfred grabbed Matthew by the wrist and snapped his wings, sending himself and his brother barreling at an unstoppable pace out of the sanctuary, Matthew not even needing to spread his own wings, his brother was carrying them both along just fine.

"Hey! Wait up!"

Toris called, launching himself onto his hands on his first step, then coming upright as he ran out of the tunnel, Ravis and Arthur close behind.

 ** _A walk into the city later._**

Ravis pulled his cap lower over his forehead as they strode through the deserted streets.

"Isn't it late morning in New York? Where is everyone?"

"Its so empty...maybe everyone went to work, or school or something?"

Arthur shrugged.

"Perhaps."

They continued down the street, the fallen's with their wings tucked under their jackets, and the werewolves wearing hats to hide their ears.

"Ok, according to the tome, the myth creature wasn't moving from this alleyway."

Matthew whispered as they all came to a halt at the corner of the alley.

All of them wondered in their minds, each imagining another creature from legend just like them they could offer a home.

"Well, no point in waiting around!" Alfred exclaimed, jumping in front of the entrance to the alleyway.

A very distressed hiss followed his shout.

"W-What?"

Alfred stared at the ridiculously tiny kitten, small enough to fit into the palm of his hand, standing on the pavement, glaring up at him with an attitude.

It was pure snowy white, except for a single black spot circling it's right eye, and it also had a blue and red ribbon tied around it's neck into a bow.

It's fur was silky and smooth, perfectly clean save for all four of it's paws, which were covered in dirt.

"A cat? The myth creature is a cat?"

"Aw...it's cute..." Ravis murmured.

The cat hissed and swiped at Ravis's hand when he reached out to pet it.

"H-Hey!" He retracted his hand.

Matthew frowned.

"It may be able to smell that you're part dog."  
"Wolf!" Toris interjected.

"Same thing." Alfred commented lamely.

The cat glared at them as if it full aware of what was hidden beneath those jackets and caps. It backed further into the alley.

Matthew moved forward slowly and stooped down.

"No need to be afraid, we want to help you."

Matthew whispered.

The cat continued pawing backwards, still looking suspicious.

That is, if a cat could look suspicious.

Suddenly, the cat grew and changed, it's soft mewl turned into a fierce growl, and white smoke enveloped it's form. Once it solidified, they were met with the sight of a mammoth saber toothed tiger type animal was in front of them, it was longer then Matthew was tall, and it's head was at chest height with the fallen when he stood. The black spot around it's eye had turned into a multi-spiked star, still with the blue and red ribbon around it's neck

It had giant fangs and looked very defensive.

Matthew's survival instinct kicked in, he was only a few feet away from the monster, after all, and his wings came out wide, shooting him up into the air.

"HOLY MAPLE SON OF A..."

"Mattie calm down!" Alfred cried.

Matthew gasped heavily and put a hand over his heart.

"S-Sorry."

The beast, on the other hand, stared up a Matthew with a look of blank shock.

It began to change shape again, first shrinking back down to the tiny kitten, then growing and coming upright. The smoke formed arms, and pale skin appeared from beneath the form. A pair of striking, strange brilliant fuchsia eyes gazed out to them, the eyes slitted with black pupils.

A short teenage boy with a heavy brown jacket, a white undershirt, and a floppy bow tie in the same colors as the ribbon that had been around both the beast and the kitten's neck stood before them. He was gawked up at Matthew in amazement, taking in the feathery wings that stretched from his shoulder blades.

"You're...flying?" He asked.

Matthew slowly lowered himself back to the ground and hurriedly pulled his wings back under his jacket.

"Y-Yeah...I am."  
The former cat looked confusedly between all of them.

"Who are you people?" He demanded.

Arthur stepped up.

"We're like you. Not human."

The silvery haired boy narrowed his eyes and fisted his hands.  
"So you're not one of them? The labs?"

Came the demand.

"No, we're here to offer you a sanctuary. It's kinda our new mission."

Alfred said, grinning.

The teenager did not look convinced.

"So what are you?"

Alfred threw an arm around Matthew and Arthur.

"We're all brothers and fallen angels! We can fly and all that stuff!" He exclaimed.

"We're werewolves." Toris provided.  
"No wonder I don't like the way you smell. I can't stand dogs."

The teen commented blandly.

"I'm a faye. My magical speciality is shape changing, and my best form is a cat. I can do other stuff, but I don't really like too."

"Cool. You turned into an epic monster thing! It was awesome!"

The silver haired boy snapped his head to the side, puffing his cheeks slightly, as if embarrassed.

"Was not."  
He mumbled shyly.

"So, who're you with?" Matthew questioned.

"No one. I'm by myself." He responded.

"This may be a bit tardy, but I'm Arthur."

Arthur made it a point to introduce himself.

"Oh! Oops!"

The rest of the group introduced themselves hurriedly.

"I'm...Emil." The semi-cat relented.

"So...we've got this wicked cool sanctuary cave thing that's like super ginormous and filled with all sorts of awesome junk for myth creatures to live in, we're here to give you an invite. This magical tome on a pedestal told us to bring together our entire race to avoid a terrible fate and all this freaky end of the world stuff."

Alfred exclaimed all of this rather suddenly.

Emil raised an eyebrow, not looking all that impressed.

"And I should just randomly trust you because...?"

Toris glanced back and forth up the street that the alleyway intersected before tugging off his beanie.

His wolf ears perked up and Emil simply crossed his arms.

"How old are you guys?" He shot this out, perhaps only to buy more time for him to think.

"I'm nineteen." Arthur spoke.

"Same." Toris said.

"I'm sixteen." Ravis said.

"Me and Matthew are both sixteen." Alfred spoke for himself and his twin.

Emil glanced awkwardly to the side.

"I'm only fifteen."  
"And you're out in an alley in New York City by yourself shapeshifting!"

Arthur exclaimed pointedly.

Emil scowled.

"I did have a place, but some things happened between me and my...old housemates. I was frustrated so I left."  
"You mean you ran away from home? Is it because your family didn't manifest myth genes like you did?" Arthur asked, looking concerned.

"My _family_ is none of your concern."

Emil growled through gritted teeth, the mention of his relations putting him on edge. He looked slightly saddened when everyone moved away from him.

As if scared he would reform into that terrifying tiger they'd seen previously.

Emil rolled his eyes jerkily and shoved his hands in his jacket pockets, walking past them out of the alley. He shouldered past Alfred when the bespectacled youth tried to halt his exit.

"Thanks for the offer, but I left to be alone, that's what I intend to be."

He dove forward, stretching his arms out in front of him, and his form blurred like smoke, turning white and shrinking in on itself until he'd taken the form of the tiny kitten, which quickly bolted away down the street.

Arthur sighed.

"Well, that went well." He grumbled as Alfred moved to follow the swishing white tail that was sinking away in the distance.

Matthew put a hand on Alfred's shoulder.

"We can't force him to join us, he knows we're out there, once he's had his alone time he might come back. Or maybe we'll run into him again, I'm sure it'll work out. We don't know what happened between him and his family, it's probably best he works it out on his own." He promised.

Alfred nodded slowly.

"You're right, bro. I guess we should head back to the sanctuary, huh?"

"Sounds like a plan." Toris agreed.

With this, all of them walked away in the opposite direction, heading for the forest.

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: Oh don't worry, Emil's family issues will be delved into eventually.**_

 _ **Emil: Please no.**_

 _ **Amethyst: Please yes.**_

 _ **Emil: Don't you dare bring him back...**_

 _ **Lukas: What?**_

 _ **Emil: No! No! No! I never want to see again!**_

 _ **Amethyst: I gotcha Icy! *Punts Lukas out of the room***_

 _ **Lukas: I CAN SPROUT WINGS I WILL RETURN!**_

 _ **Amethyst: LET'S SEE YOU TRY!**_

 _ **Arthur: Well, that about wraps that up, doesn't it?**_

 _ **Amethyst: Yup! Let's hand it over to the fabulous Feliks!  
**_

 _ **Feliks: EVERYONE! FAVORITE, FOLLOW, AND REVIEW! WE LOVE YOU ALL! KISSES!**_


	7. I've got a fire in my belly!

**_Anyone get the chapter name reference? Anyone? Anyone? Please? Ok I'll stop now..._**

 ** _Please enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _With Emil._**

Emil darted into a small park with a fountain in the center of it and padded over to it.

 _It's not like I don't like the idea of having people care about me. Or having people to care about._

Still in his tiny kitten form, he jumped up onto the edge of the fountain and leaned forward, lapping up some of the water.

 _At least as a cat I don't feel demeaned about drinking from a fountain._

He then noted someone was coming.

 _New York's getting weirder every second._

He thought as he looked up at the person walking toward the fountain.

A boy his age with shaggy lightish brown hair cut with long strands towards the front and much shorter to the back. He had startlingly golden eyes.

His hair covered his ears and a good deal of his face with the bangs.

Emil watched him as he walked slowly forward, approaching the fountain, looking both ways as if scared someone may spot him.

 _It's a public place, whats the big deal?_

Emil asked in his mind.

"Oh...hey."

The boy greeted him.

Emil meowed in response before seating himself comfortably on the edge of the fountain.

He found himself joined by the boy right next to him, and then patted on the head.

 _Well...I am part cat...I also enjoy mice and laser pointers, so..._

Emil rubbed his forehead against the hand and it was retracted.

"You're a lot nicer then the other stray cats I've, like, seen since we've gotten here, hmm? I'll bet you won't judge me just because of how I look or where I'm from."  
 _I'm a half faye half human freak of nature, I'm not in much position to be judging anyone._

Emil knew responding in his head wasn't much help to this golden eyed stranger, but he still did it out of habit.

"Well, I suppose at least a cat doesn't run away like I'm a monster."

He grumbled, pulling his knees up to his chest.

He was wearing a red long sleeved shirt with a black belt and black baggy pants, wrapped with white on the bottom and black slippers.

Emil sat back and looked up at him.

 _I wonder if it's his eyes. They're slitted and really bright gold. I think they look cool. Sorta like mine._

Emil waited in silence next to the stranger for a few moments and, as he suspected, he spoke to the cat sitting next to him again.

"You know, I don't really see what's so much better about this city. Gege said it would be better for us here. We didn't have a house in China and we don't have a house here. We didn't have food in China and we don't have food here. It's all the same, anywhere we go we're rejected and hunted.

 _Is it really the eyes? I'm sensing something more. He's got something hot inside him...almost like..._

Emil tried to focus on the aura the mysterious Chinese boy was giving off. His magic gave him aura reading capabilities as well as shape changing, among other things. Narrowing in on the center of the strange boys being, he caught onto what was so different about him. Most humans had an aura composed of light in colors that determined their mood or their personalities. But this boys being crackled out of him, burning him up inside, licking at the shell of a frail, weak body that it had been contained in.

 _Almost like fire._

"I didn't want to deal with them all for one night, so I took off. Gege will wail me out for it when I get back. I hope he'll be to busy trying to find food for all of us to notice I'm gone for a while. I, like, just can't take it, families are just..."

He groped at the air, as if the word would be pulled from the space in front of him.

Emil's pinkish slitted eyes widened as the overlong red sleeves slid back to show black, claw like nails, and scarlet scales creeping in uneven patches across the now bare forearm.

"Crazy?" Emil offered as his form began to blur, he was taking a chance.

"Yeah, exactly. I...whoa..."

The scaled boy jumped up and frantically away from the fountain, hands raised to defend himself.

"I thought we agreed we wouldn't judge each other?"

"Well, yeah, but I, like, thought I was talking to a cat!"

"You were."

The white blur solidified and Emil had taken human shape, he brushed the silvery hair from his face, it was always thrown about everywhere after he shifted.

"Y-Y-You...what are you?"

Emil looked almost hurt.

"I thought you knew what it was like to be judged on appearances or abilities? I'm a faye, so far my magic is physical, and I can shift forms. This is what I normally look like though, I'm not really a cat. I can just...be a cat. I mean, if I want to be. If I don't, I can just stay like this."

He swallowed and scuffed at the dirt with his white lace up boots.

"I'm Emil." He introduced himself.

The foreign boy looked to have caught his breath and looked up again.

"I'm Li Xiang."

Emil sat back onto the fountain and, albeit with caution, Li Xiang joined him.

"So, what are you?" Emil asked.

Li Xiang shrugged. "Gege says we're called dragon spawn, which sounds kinda evil and totally uncool."

"You're part dragon? That's really cool. I saw the scales on your arm."

Emil commented.

"Oh, these?"

Li Xiang slid his sleeve back to reveal the patches of golden and scarlet scales.

"Yeah, they do get really itchy sometimes."

He scratched at them with an irritated face.

Emil fixed him with a deadpanned look.

"Try having to hack up hairballs."

"Gross." Li Xiang stuck out his tongue.

"Indeed." Emil crossed his arms.

"I've got a family-type thing too. I just ran away from home two months ago cause I couldn't take it anymore."

"Whoa, you ran away? Is your family like you?"

Emil blew out a sigh, strands of grayed hair drifting up from his forehead.

"It's complicated. Really complicated. I'm only actually blood related to one of them, my...ugh...big brother."

Emil swore he could _feel_ his brother's victory that those words had left his mouth, even though he wasn't there to hear them.

He quickly cast the thought of that cool headed, semi smiling face away. That kind, warm expression that used to be reserved only for him. Until his brother suddenly didn't act like his brother anymore. If he still felt that way deep down, the man he once called his kin must have been far beyond worried sick. He'd likely be spending days and nights out searching for him.

 _No, it's all gone. It's in the past. He's gone, and I don't have to ever see him again. So don't let yourself feel the guilt now, stupid. I'm never going back._

"But all five of us have lived together since I was really young. They're _all_ older then me too, and of course they are just _so_..."

Li Xiang sniggered and cut him off.

"Overprotective?"

Emil looked over at him, surprised.

"Exactly."

"I'm the youngest of six full blood dragon siblings, all of us share both parents. Four of the oldest of whom are guys. You have no idea what protective is until your older brothers are roaring fire at some kid that called you a lizard. Not to mention my sister punched him in the stomach when we ran into him to next day."

Emil snickered. "Nice."

Li Xiang gave a dramatic sigh, bracing his arms and leaning back onto them. "Yeah, but it's still kind of ridiculous. I mean, back then it was ok, because I was, like, six, I couldn't take care of myself. I didn't mind that. I was young and I wasn't able to defend myself, so of course he defended me. It was Gege's job to take care of me since he was the oldest. Now I'm fifteen, I can fight my own battles, I don't need my twenty some year old brother to be beating up my bullies! Unless, of course, they have guns and weapons and nets and stuff, then I don't mind Gege helping out. Even if he's like, way shorter then me, he's, like, really good at using his abilities to protect us."

Emil nodded understandingly.

"When I was younger my older brother used to hex anyone who called me names."

"Hex? As in..." Li Xiang began to question.

Emil counted off the different definitions on his fingers.

"Curse. Spell. Magic. Jinx. Charm."

"He's magic?"

Emil pulled his knees up to his chest.

"So am I, he's just better at it."

"Better at being magic?" Li Xiang raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Yup. I _hate_ how much better he is then me. "

The conversation continued on, both sharing stories about their protective siblings, about their struggles with their looks and abilities, about being teenagers with super powers, and the like.

Perfectly normal things for two boys to be discussing.

Li Xiang groaned, rocking his head back and looking up at the stars for a moment before he stood up, stretching.

"I need to go back before Gege has a panic attack when he realizes I'm missing. He's probably already freaking out, I'm not going to make it back for another hour now anyway."

Emil was almost sad to see him go.

"Hey, one more thing."

Emil came to his feet as well.

"Yeah?" Li Xiang turned to him.

"Earlier today I ran into a group of guys a little older then us. They were fallen angels and werewolves. They had wolf ears and tails and wings."

"WHAT!?" Li Xiang looked astonished.

"S-So Gege was right? He said their were more people like us here and he was right!"

Emil gave him a look.

"Erm...I meant, like, _other_ then you, Emil. Continue!"

Li Xiang exclaimed hurriedly.

Emil shook his head at him.

"They said that they had a sanctuary and were searching for other myth creatures. Something about a magical book that told them to bring together our kind? Weird stuff, but we're weird people."

Li Xiang looked amazed.

"A sanctuary? That's just what my family crossed an ocean looking for."

Emil felt suddenly humbled.

 _That's just what I was so selfish to turn down._

"Well, I could try to hunt them down again, but there's no way for us to contact each other once we split up."

Emil said.

Li Xiang frowned.

"True...I mean, I have a cell phone, which I stole, but I don't get any bars."

He grumbled.

Emil sighed.

"I could try this spell thing my brother taught me. But I'll just fail miserably. The runes will just blow up in my face like they always do. I'll probably just go flying."

"I'll do my best not to find it hysterical." Li Xiang had a rather flat tone about him, he didn't seem the type to burst out laughing at anything.

"Okay, here we go..."

Emil breathed out slowly before he pointed forward with two fingers of his right hand, tracing symbols into the air.

He'd seen his brother create letters and drawings in mid air countless times. With some serious concentration, Emil left behind a faded icy blue rune, it looked a little lopsided, but it was correct. He proceeded forward, drawing out a line of six runes total.

They remained in the air even as he withdrew his first hand and thrust both of his palms forward to strike the letters. This took him a good ten minutes, moving so slowly in an attempt to be perfectly precise. Li Xiang didn't rush him.

"Search!" Emil cried out as his palms hit the runes and caused them to burst.

They exploded into shards of energy, which were _supposed_ to shoot off and form a trail in the right direction, but unfortunately, from there, things didn't go to plan.

"ACK!" Emil went hurtling into the air, spinning rapidly head over heels as he shot upwards, his magic having struck him back twice as hard.

He slammed downward and landed with a massive splash in the fountain.

"Emil!" Li Xiang raced over to the fountain.

Emil let out a high pitched hiss.

"WET WET WET!" He shouted out, scrambling from the fountain and instantly taking on his kitten form, beginning to shake himself out.

Li Xiang snickered as he squatted down to Emil's height.

"Want a blow dry?"

The kitten eyed him hesitantly, not like Li Xiang gave much a choice.

His cheeks puffed up like a chipmunks suddenly, and, out of nowhere, he blew out a cloud of hot steam, generated from his inner flame.

The cat was transformed into a puffball.

Emil shifted back to humanoid form, and shook a fist at Li Xiang.

"I never agreed to that!" He barked furiously, his hair stood up on end and his tie was totally stiff, rumpled up into an unkempt knot.

At this sight, Li Xiang laughed until he cried.

Emil glared at him before he clicked his tongue in irritation.

"Tch. Some friend you are."

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: And in comes Li Xiang!**_

 ** _Yao: Can I talk yet?_**

 ** _Amethyst: NOOO! *Punt prep*_**

 ** _Yao: I WAS MENTIONED!_**

 ** _Amethyst: NOT GOOD ENOUGH! *Punts*_**

 ** _Yao: AHHHHHH! *Gone*_**

 ** _Emil: I hate water so much._**

 ** _Li Xiang: How do you bathe?_**

 ** _Emil: ..._**

 ** _Li Xiang: No. Do you go into cat form and use your tongue?_**

 ** _Emil: OF COURSE NOT! SHOWER WATER IS FINE!_**

 ** _Li Xiang: ...you can't swim, can you?_**

 ** _Amethyst: Bingo._**

 ** _Emil: SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!_**

 ** _Li Xiang: Ah yeah, definitely, like, bingo._**

 ** _Toris: Well now that that's been cleared up._**

 ** _Ravis: P-P-Please f-f-f-favorite f-f-follow and r-r-review! T-T-Thanks so much! *Whispers* Did I do that right?_**

 ** _Alfred: Perfect, bro! See you guys in the next chapter!_**


	8. Finally recruited someone!

_**This is just gonna be a bit of a necessary filler with the arrival of Emil and Li Xiang into the Sanctuary, sorry! I'll be sure to update again soon with more actual plot!**_

* * *

After the complete and utter failure that was Emil's attempt at a locating spell, Li Xiang had finally calmed down. Now the two of them were debating the best way to proceed. It continued on with several awful ideas up until a furious shout rag up the street.

"FELIKS LET GO OF ME!"

They turned to see a blonde dressed all in green go racing past dragging a guy wearing a red sweatshirt and thick black jeans with black combat boots and a strange tiny hat trailing ribbons.

"Last shop!"

"No way!"

The brown haired guy fought back against Feliks and they were now witnessing the strangest dialogue from the duo yet.

"Why are you so against fashion!"

"I'm not against fashion I'm against wasting away any more of my life!"

"What life? You're not even _actually_ alive!"

"I am too! And don't say that in public!"

Emil squinted at them, the aura surrounding the guy in green with the blonde hair was pink, but he had a scent about him that Emil recognized.

His scent was mingled with those of the two werewolves from earlier, even with a military cap on his head and his tail hidden, it was clear with Emil's enhanced sense of smell.

"He's...a werewolf. That blonde guy is a werewolf. The other guy..." Emil whispered.

He looked at the other in red, and scrutinized the aura that surrounded him. It was red and flecked with black waves emitting out, something about it was dangerous, like he wasn't totally in control of himself. Emil didn't particularly find him threatening though. It was almost as if he just wasn't completely sure of himself, or completely the master of his abilities. As if it would be all to easy for him to fall over the edge and lose control.

Emil narrowed his eyes. "That's two of them. Hurry."

Emil took off running towards them and Li Xiang jumped before falling into step behind him.

"HEY! Werewolf!"

Feliks froze and spun on the spot, looking defensive.

"Like, what did you call me?" He demanded sassily, a hand up on one hip, which in turn was stuck out.

Emil ran up to them.

"Quickly getting this out of the way." His form turned to the same pure white smoke, blurring his body as he folded in upon himself shrinking down into the same tiny kitten as before.

"SO CUTE!" Feliks squealed.

As abruptly as he had transformed the first time, Emil turned back into a humanoid shape again.

"There, see? Myth creature here. Just like you two. I met some of your friends earlier today. Uh...names...names..." Emil snapped his fingers.

"Arthur, Alfred, Matthew, something with a V in it that started with an R. Some guy with a green hoodie with long brown hair."

"Ravis and Toris?" The one in red guessed.

Emil nodded. "They invited me to come to their sanctuary, but I turned them down. I thought about it some, and I want to reconsider. I'd like to join up with you guys. So does he."

Emil jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Li Xiang.

"Whoa! I never said..."

"Ignore him, he wants to come to."

"Hey! Let me talk for myself!" The dragon spawn cried.

The one with the dangerous aura looked happy to hear this.

"That's great! I'm Valentin, this is Feliks, we'd be happy to have you on board! We're heading back now, want to come?" He offered.

Li Xiang looked concerned. "I really need to get back to my family."

Emil looked over at him seriously.

"If we don't go now, we might never get the chance."

"We?"

"If you need to get back to your family, I'm going with you. I can cut your time in half."

Li Xiang was surprised, but then looked back to Feliks and Valentin, he swallowed hard.

"Not necessary. I'm so dead." He moaned.

"I'll come with you guys. I can reunite with my family later and I'll have finally found us a place to call home."

Feliks grinned, with fangs full in view.

"Well, let's get a move on! Valentin was gonna fly us so we could go faster but..." He began.

"We can keep up so long as you don't go to high. We'll stick to the rooftops all the way, right?" Emil asked.

Valentin nodded. "I can do that."

Emil turned to the dragon spawn he had befriended.

"Great, alright Li Xiang, ultimate trust test."

Li Xiang did not look enthusiastic. "I've known you for like two hours. Maybe less."

"Exactly, trust time."

Li Xiang sighed. "What do I do?" He asked.

Emil smirked. "Climb on and hang on tight."

He began to shrink again, taking the form of a kitten again.

"If you think I'm riding a kitten all the way to who knows where, you've got another thing coming. Plus you're, like, super small."

The kitten meowed up at him as if to tell him to shut up.

It began to grow again, Emil shifting and changing into the mammoth saber toothed cat from before.

"Totally fabulous!" Feliks cried out, running a hand across Emil's now furry forehead.

"So soft!"

Emil growled, causing Feliks yelped and jumped backwards.

Li Xiang swallowed as Emil took a knee for Li Xiang to get on his back.

"What have I signed myself up for?"

 ** _On the rooftops._**

"Not cool!" Li Xiang wailed, holding the ribbon around Emil's neck in a death grip. The icelandic, in ginormous tiger form, had Li Xiang was bouncing as he ran along the rooftops.

He jumped another gap between buildings and Li Xiang held on harder.

Emil snapped his head back and his ear hit Li Xiang in the face.

"I think he's trying to say 'stop choking me!'" Valentin called, he was swooping through the air a few yards above them, arms clamped around Feliks's chest as his powerful leathery wings worked to carry their combined weight.

"We're nearly there, Emil, you're gonna have to jump down from the back of this building and make a break into the forest before you're spotted in the open!"

Feliks cried out, pointing to a fast approaching building.  
"Wait, jump off a building? Oh no..." Li Xiang moaned as he clung on tighter and scrunched his golden eyes closed.

They were in the open air for several terrifying seconds.

Feliks let out a howl up at the half full moon.

"This is totes the way to travel!" He exclaimed after his howl.

"Don't do your werewolf call in my ear!" Valentin complained as he brought them down for a landing into the trees.

Li Xiang was all to happy to dismount from Emil's back as the shapeshifting faye shrank down into kitten form before growing yet again into a human form.

"That was fun." He commented with a slight detectable hint of amusement in his voice.

"Never jump off a building with me on your back ever again." Li Xiang ordered, crossing his red cloaked arms.

"No promises." Emil replied.

Feliks giggled at their behavior, then exclaimed. "Well, it's only a bit of a walk this way! Into the woods we go!"

Feliks marched off into the thickening trees.

Valentin shook his head.

"He's a bit eccentric, and if he ever offers to give you a makeover. Take my advice. Turn him down." The vampire said tiredly before following along into the forest, Emil and Li Xiang not far behind.

They reached the rock formation with the massive tree growing atop it not long thereafter.

"A tree? I am, like, not sleeping in a tree."

Li Xiang was quick to judge.

Valentin gave a secretive smile.

"It's not in the tree, it's under the tree."

The two younger myth creatures then realized that Feliks was no where to be seen.

"Hey, where'd the wolf go?" Emil asked.

Valentin dropped to his hands and knees in front of the small cave opening.

"In here." He replied as he crawled inside.

Li Xiang looked skeptically over to Emil.

"If I get murdered by a vampire and a werewolf in a cave, you totally have to explain it to Gege."

"If I die, you're the one who's got to avoid my older brother who will try to kill you for letting me die."

"I can still hear you!" Valentin's voice emitted from the cave entrance.

"Oops." Emil glanced to the opening, then turned to Li Xiang.

"You go first, if things turn bad I'll shift and we'll bolt."

"Still hearing you! Stop being dramatic, I only drink human blood in self defense!"

Valentin called.

After this, the two gave a final dubious look to the opening in the rocks before crawling inside.

"Wow, some sanctuary." Li Xiang said sarcastically.

"We're not at the sanctuary yet." Valentin was waiting towards the back of the minuscule cave.

"Down here, just pretend it's a giant playground slide." Valentin suggested before he slipped his feet into the circular hole in the ground and slid from sight.

Li Xiang sighed.

"Here goes nothing." He dove headfirst into the shaft, Emil close behind.

The dragon spawn flew into the open air for a moment before dropping onto his stomach on a cool stone floor.

A soft bounce notified him that something had come to a stop on top of his head, and when he stood, Emil, in kitten form, was nestled in his mane of shaggy black hair.

"Emil, what are you doing?"  
Emil shifted back to human form, which resulted in him sitting on Li Xiang's shoulders.

"I didn't want to crush you. You're welcome."  
"You're crushing me right now!" Li Xiang exclaimed, staggering back and forth as Emil shrank back into kitten size, seated on his shoulder.

"Get off, fur ball." He ordered, pulling the kitten off of his shoulder and holding him by the scruff of his neck.

"What are you two doing?"

Valentin was leaning on the entry to a large semi circle shaped hole in the wall, a soft glow was filtering from the tunnel.

Li Xiang threw the kitten at Valentin.

"HEY!"

Emil morphed quickly into human form in a blur of smoke and threw his white boots out, coming to a running stop.

"So you turn into a tiny cat too?" Valentin asked skeptically.

Emil grumbled under his breath as he straightened his ribbon tie.

"I can't believe you just chucked me across the room!" Emil cried indignantly.

Li Xiang shrugged.

"You were trying to get a free ride."

"I ran all the way here with you on my back didn't I?"

As the two bickered Valentin rolled his eyes and turned, walking off into the tunnel.

"This way! Feliks already opened out the slab, so you'd better hurry unless you want to get locked out! It'll only stay open a few moments more." He called back before breaking into a run.

The duo followed into the tunnel at a brisk jog, abnormal eye colors taking in the art decorating the walls. Emil yelped as the stone slab ground back down to seal off the cavern.

The dragon spawn snickered as his skittishness before continuing on his way towards where the vampire had vanished into the light.

Li Xiang stopped dead at the opposite end of the tunnel.

"Whoa..."

Emil walked straight into his back.

"What? Oh...whoa..." He murmured.

The two of them gawked in amazement up at the massive cavern, with the multicolored curtains over the hollows and the runes weaving in graceful spirals through the air.

Alfred was flying around in the air, Arthur and Toris were flicking through the tome, Ravis was walking around and around on the edge of the fountain, and Matthew was lying on his back, watching his brother circling around.

"This is so cool." Li Xiang whispered.

"Yup." Emil agreed instantly.

"Hey! It's that cat boy! I knew you'd come around!"

Alfred cried as he glided swiftly down towards them.

A grin plastered across his face, Alfred swung his legs beneath him and came to a running landing, ruffling his black and white feathers.

"And you brought a friend! Sup! I'm Alfred!"

Emil stuck a pinkie in his ear and moved it around.

"My ears are ringing. He's too loud." He commented to Li Xiang.

Li Xiang was covering his ears, which were still completely covered by his hair.

"What?" He glanced over to Emil as if he hadn't been able to hear.

"Very funny." Arthur said as he walked over, arms crossed.

"Who's your friend?" The oldest of the fallen angels then asked.

"This is Li Xiang. He's part dragon."

"Dragon!? That's so awesome, dude!" Alfred exclaimed excitedly.

Li Xiang tilted his head to one side slightly. "Awesome?"

"Do you breath fire?" Alfred questioned.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Don't be daft, of course he doesn't..."

Li Xiang coughed twice into his fist and then pointed his head skyward, letting out a plume of flames, which when breaking off and vanishing into wisps of smoke.

"SO COOL, BRO!" Alfred exclaimed, eyes sparkling as he pumped his fist.

"Is he always like this or did he just drink five cups of coffee this morning?"

Emil whispered to Toris as Li Xiang spat out a ring of black smoke that apparently came along after he used his fiery breath.

Toris shrugged.

"I've known him for about two days and he hasn't crashed yet. It must be some really strong coffee." He replied.

After more discussion and orientation, Feliks happened to notice that Ravis was asleep on his feet.

"What time is it, anyway?"

He asked.

Arthur checked his watch.

"Bloody hell, it's just about midnight. Bedtime! Chop chop, we've got a long day tomorrow finding more myth creatures!"

Arthur clapped his hands.

Alfred groaned.

"I'm not tired, Iggy!"

"Yes you are, you're just to stubborn to admit it. Let's go, move it!"

Arthur began pushing his younger brother towards the hollow he'd called as theirs.

"You too, Matthew!" He called over his shoulder. Matthew sighed in resignation and followed along. The three took flight and shot up, bypassing the ladder system and arriving at the very top circle of hollows.

Matthew slipped behind the curtain, revealing bunk beds along with a large dresser and a floor length mirror, all surrounded by the cool stone.

The light from the runes had dimmed along with the time of night, and Li Xiang, with Emil, just stood next to the fountain, watching as Arthur wrangled all of the less cooperative myth creatures into their respective hollows for a good nights sleep.

"You need to at least TRY sleeping at night."

Arthur pointed out.

Valentin moaned.

"But I can't! I tried yesterday!"

"You didn't sleep at all today, so aren't you tired?"  
Valentin rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in surrender.  
"Fine, I'm going, I'm going! But I will personally take a bite out of anyone who wakes me once I finally manage to fall asleep."

Valentin then spread his wings and shot upwards, diving into a hollow far up off the ground. The winged had agreed to take up residence in the hollows farther above the ground to save any of the flightless they might soon be living with the climb.

Emil and Li Xiang noticed Arthur staring at them.  
"That means you two as well, pick a hollow and go to bed, c'mon!"

Emil raised an eyebrow.  
"Does moving in here mean having you as our mom?"

"I'm the oldest and I'm taking command because no one else wants to, now come on, up you get!" Arthur ordered.

Li Xiang yawned as he stood up.

"I can't remember the last time I slept in an actual bed, this will be nice."

He wandered over to one of the ladder's sunk into the wall and climbed up to the second level of hollows, slipping over the wall that protected against falling, behind the curtain.

He found a room with a large queen bed.

"Cool." He smirked.

Emil poked his head in briefly.

"I'm right next door." He notified.

"Ok, see you tomorrow."

"Good night."

"Night."

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: That was SOOO boring. No attacks. No angst. No tearful reunions. No tragic backstories. HOW DID I WRITE SOMETHING SO LAAAAAAME!?**_

 _ **Li Xiang: Excuse you I got to sleep in an actual bed.**_

 _ **Emil: And I got to jump off a building and scare the crap out of Li Xiang.**_

 _ **Li Xiang: Not cool.**_

 _ **Emil: No, it's actually very cool, you just don't realize it.**_

 ** _Amethyst: Well then. Anyway, the debut chapters will be coming up soon. Next chapter is the debut of the rest of the dragon spawn!  
_**

 ** _Yao: FINALLY!_**

 ** _Kiku: It is about time. I have been waiting very patiently for my opportunity to resume my fourth wall shattering._**

 ** _Amethyst: OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT! NO DEBUT, NO ENTRY! GET YOUR BUTTS MOVING!_**

 ** _Yao: Why should we run if you'll just kick us anyway?_**

 ** _Amethyst: I'll give you a ten second head start._**

 ** _Kiku: That is not much time.  
_**

 ** _Amethyst: One. Two. Eight. Nine..._**

 ** _Yao and Kiku: *Run as fast as possible*_**

 ** _Amethyst: TEN! READY OR NOT HERE I COME! *Chases them*_**

 ** _Emil: Was that an eviction or a game of tag?_**

 ** _Arthur: I believe it would likely depend on who you ask. Anyways, favorite, follow, and review everyone! Thank you all for reading and I do hope to see each and every one of you in the next chapter! Goodbye!_**


	9. Overprotective dragonspawn family unite!

_**Filler be gone! Time for plot! We're hitting the debut chapters that I really wanted to get into for some of the stories more focused on characters! I hope you'll like who's coming in this time!**_

* * *

 ** _The next morning._**

Li Xiang's eyes creaked unwillingly open when the light streamed around the curtain covering the entrance of his hollow. The runes brightened along with the sun, but the curtain did a fairly good job of keeping it at bay.

It took him a moment to remember where he was, but once he did, he had an internal panic attack.

 _I told Gege I'd be back in half an hour and I've been gone all night!_

He jumped from bed and seized the red robe he'd removed to sleep from the top of his dresser, slipping it on and hurriedly buttoning it up.

He pulled on his black shoes and pulled back the curtain slightly, hopping over the waist height wall and onto the ladder.

He moved easily from there into the hollow next to his own.

"Emil! Wake up!"

Emil rolled over and blinked blearily.

"What?" He moaned.

"I need to get back over to where the rest of my family is staying, pronto! They thought I'd be back in a half an hour after I'd left, I've been here with you all night!"

Emil nodded slowly, stifling a yawn.  
"Ok, ok, just give me a sec, I'll be down soon."

He said.

Li Xiang exited the hollow and descended by ladder to the ground.

He spent the next two minutes circling around the fountain impatiently.

At long last, Emil came out from behind the curtain of his hollow and climbed down to the grassy ground.

"Ok, lets go."

Li Xiang briefly debated leaving some message that they would return, but decided that their simply wasn't time for that.

Once they exited the small cave at the top of the sanctuary, Li Xiang, albeit regretfully, clambered onto Emil's back once he took on his sabertooth form and they shot towards the rooftops.

 ** _In the same park Emil and Li Xiang met._**

"Gege! I found something!" Mei Mei called.

Yao came jogging over and Mei Mei pointed to the small amount of white fur on the fountains edge.

Along with several small scales that would have gone unnoticed by any other.

"Li Xiang told me his scales have been really itchy lately, he must have been sitting here." The girl reasoned.

Yao nodded.

"Good, aru. But still, I have no clue how we're going to find him if we have nothing but this to go off of." He sighed softly and put a hand to his head.

"I never should have let him run off by himself!"

Mei Mei seized her older brothers arm.

"Don't start blaming yourself, we'll find him!"

Kiku came walking over at a measured pace and took a look at the scales.

"What is that fur?" He asked.

Mei Mei turned and look down at the fur as the final two members of the family, the twins Hyung Soo and Yong Soo, came running over to see what everyone was looking at.

"What is it!? Did you find him!?" Yong Soo demanded.

"Yes, idiot, they found him in the fountain!" Hyung Soo growled as he slapped his twin over the head.

Kiku directed his attention then to the coming noise he could hear.

"Do you hear that?" He asked.

Everyone else spun on the spot, directing their attention up to the rooftops, where indeed, the approach of something four legged was audible.

"NOT AGAIN!"

When the Chinese siblings saw their youngest brother riding what appeared to be a monstrously large sabertooth tiger, more then one mouth dropped open.

"Li Xiang!" Mei Mei cried as the tiger leapt from the top of the building, Li Xiang flying out like a flag in heavy wind, clinging to the ribbon around the supposed monsters neck.

Li Xiang lay numbly on the tigers back for a few moments before it let out a disgruntled growl and shook to one side, sending Li Xiang tumbling off of his back.

"No need to be so rough about it." Li Xiang exclaimed as he came to a stand.

The sabertooth blew a puff of air from between it's fangs, it's equivalent to a sigh that showed he didn't care.

Before he knew what was going on, Li Xiang was swamped by hugs, his entire family, minus the less then physically affectionate Kiku, were surrounding him.

Then Yao, now that his relief was out of the way, recalled his fury.

"What the HELL, aru!?" He screeched.

"You ran off and then you come riding some giant monster thing?"

Li Xiang jumped to Emil's defense.

"He's not a monster thing! He's a person! C'mon, change back."

Li Xiang turned to the tiger and it gave him an amused face.

If white and black tigers could look amused.

"Emil, not funny."

Still no reaction and Li Xiang could tell his siblings were beginning to worry.

"Dude!" Li Xiang smacked Emil over the head.

"Alright, alright, I'm changing!" Emil snickered as his form shrank into the kitten and then grew to the bipedal form of the semi-human.

Yao gawked.

"He's...he's a..."  
Li Xiang smiled slightly, tossing an arm around Emil's shoulders.

"A myth creature! And there's more! Gege, there's a whole sanctuary here, with werewolves and vampires and fallen angels!"

Mei Mei stepped up, eyes alight.

"Really?"  
Li Xiang nodded.

"We didn't come here in vain. They offered to let us join them."

Yao became skeptic.

"And why should we trust your tiger friend?"

Emil scowled and crossed his arms.

"I'm not a tiger, I'm a faye, my ability is shapeshifting. My form just so happens to be feline." He corrected.

Li Xiang spoke again.  
"Please, Gege, it's the chance we risked everything for."

Yao looked hesitant, his golden eyes flicked between the difference faces. Each of which, save Emil, of course, he was charged to protect with everything he had.

"...Which way, aru?"  
Li Xiang's face broke into the first full blown smile Emil had seen from him.

"This way, we can walk there." Li Xiang said quickly, gesturing for his family to follow.

He was silently ecstatic when they did.

 ** _At the sanctuary._**

"This is so cool, da-ze!"

Yong Soo was all to quick to take off to explore the cavern, his twin right behind him, shouting for him to calm down and stop.

Yao looked around skeptically.

"So where are all these other myth creatures?"

"Asleep." Emil replied before stifling a yawn.

"Just like I was before Li Xiang woke me up and made me run him across town."

Li Xiang didn't bother to respond to that when he heard a crowing noise.  
"Up and at'em! Let's fly!"

Alfred came hurtling out of a hollow almost ten levels up, grinning ear to ear as he spiraled downward, black and white wings unfurled.

"Up! Up! Up!" He shouted loudly, serving as a living alarm clock.

A tirade of groans echoed out as curtains were pulled, Matthew jumped out of the same hollow Alfred had come from and glided gently to the ground.

The werewolf trio came crawling out with massive bed heads and Arthur emerged, feathers ruffled in his own version of a bed head.

"Oh...looks like Li Xiang brought his family over." Toris commented as he ran his fingers through his long brown hair, wrangling down into presentable shape.

"I need a mirror, like, stat!" Feliks vanished back into his hollow to deal with his hair situation.

Yao swallowed.

"Oh..there they are." He mumbled.

Mei Mei looked around at all of the guys emerging everywhere and frowned.  
"Wait, am I the only girl?"

Arthur glanced over to her.  
"Afraid so, love. Don't fret, I'm positive we'll come across plenty more girls while we're going about this whole 'bring them all together' business."

He assured her.

Mei Mei sighed.  
"I've lived with six boys my entire life, I guess I can hang on a bit longer."

"You make it sound like growing up with us was torture." Li Xiang pointed out.  
"Well..." Mei Mei hesitated with a smirk on her face.

Alfred glanced up at a certain hollow and swallowed.

"How do we get Vali out this time?"

Arthur shrugged.

"Just go yell 'fire' in his ear again."

Alfred shuddered.

"He nearly killed me for that."

Arthur shrugged. "Better you then me."

"Hey!"

Matthew sighed and shook his head.  
"I'll get him." He mumbled.

Yao furrowed is brow as he watched Matthew go swooping up towards a hollow fairly high off the ground.

"Who is this...Vali?"

Arthur shrugged.  
"He set off this whole idea, he's also got the worst situation out of all of us. He can't be in direct sunlight. The worst thing that means is that he can't fly with us during the day, his wings are too thin."

Yao crossed his arms.  
"What is he, aru?"

"Vampire." Arthur replied.

Yao's eyes went wide, and his head instantly snapped up to look at the hollow again.

"I didn't know they actually existed." He said.

Arthur sighed heavily.

"They do. Apparently Vali's father, and his younger brother, were vampires as well. But they were killed, along with his human mother, I don't know how long ago. I ran into him in the skies a little ways away from London. The people of his home village had found out he was a vampire, so they forced him from his home, burned his house to the ground, and forced him to flee into the skies."

Arthur explained.

Yao was still trying to imagine what exactly a vampire would look like when the question in his mind was answered.

Matthew had been forced to drag Valentin from bed, he was finally awake, and he poked his head out of the hollow with an irritable expression, light brown hair frazzled.

"Arthur. Time." He demanded grouchily.  
"It's almost noon, mate! Get out here, we got more recruits!" Arthur called.

Valentin yawned loudly as he dragged his red sweatshirt on and put on his tiny top hat before jumping from the hollow.

Leathery bat wings unfurled from his back and he caught the air during his descent, finally spiraling into a gentle landing.

"...I fell asleep...at night..." He grumbled.

Arthur clapped him on the back, the force causing the other to stagger forwards, thrown off balance.  
"Good job! You're one step closer to altering your inner clock!"

The romanian sighed heavily before turning to the dragon spawns.

"Hallo..." He greeted sleepily, accent biting into his words.

"I'm Valentin, glad to see we're..."

Pause for yawn.

"...getting more people to come." He managed to produce his usual friendly smile, and his elongated fangs poked from his mouth slightly.

Yao stared at him in surprise.

"How old are you?"

Valentin was surprised by the straightforward question.

"Erm...nineteen, why?"

Yao shrugged.

"Just curious. If you're a vampire you could have been a thousand or something, aru."

Valentin groaned. "I am NOT immortal! Why does everyone think that?"

The romanian didn't receive an answer.

Yet again, introductions were swapped, explanations were given, and then the asian dragon spawns started wandering around the cavern that was to become their home.

Yao was staring at the moving dots on the page of the tome intensely.

"So...these are all myth creatures?" He asked.

Arthur stood next to him, and he nodded.

"Indeed."

Yao looked down at the page for a few more minutes.  
"And signing on with you means we have to help you find all of them?"

"Indeed." Arthur repeated.

Yao gave a soft sigh as he studied the page again.  
"Well, lets get this over with, aru! COME HERE!" He shouted over his shoulder.

All of his siblings assembled incredibly quickly, the others of the group coming a lot slower, and Yao looked over the tome again.

"I think we should split up, cover more ground and contact more people, aru."

Arthur nodded.  
"Sounds like a plan, how about we split off in pairs of two?"

Yao agreed to that.

Li Xiang grabbed Emil by the hand and dragged him up to the tome.

"There's one on the beach. That's where we're heading."

He decided instantly.

"H-Hey!" Emil weakly protested as he was dragged out of the tunnel and up towards the surface.

"Twin power!" Alfred cheered as he and Matthew stepped up, the more obnoxious of the two throwing an arm over the other.

"Twin power?" Hyung Soo asked skeptically as he glanced to his own identical.

Yong Soo put up a hand for a high five, grinning.

"No." Hyung Soo shut him down as Alfred and Matthew went flying out of the tunnel with their own location assigned.

The dragon twins left to go to their assigned dot on the page, Toris and Feliks took off, followed by Valentin and Ravis.

Valentin pulled up the hood of his red sweatshirt and drew the string.

"If I burn up I blame Feliks." He grumbled. No one could tell if he was speaking about figuratively burning up or literally burning up.

Mei Mei frowned. "Looks like I'm the odd one out. I can stay and hold down the fort, I guess."

Yao nodded to her, "Good idea. Best not to leave the place unguarded. At least not until some of us memorize the poem in the tome."

Mei Mei giggled, "Nice rhyming, Gege." She teased.

Yao rolled his eyes at her as Arthur scoured the age old book before them.

"You want to head to this one?" He pointed out a lone speck on the page.  
Yao turned to him and crossed his arms, clearly not looking forward to spending the rest of the day running around searching for some random people.

"Very well, aru. Let's go."

* * *

 ** _Amethyst: Starting next chapter I'll be updating a lot more often since I want each of the debuts to be in it's own chapter, and some of them are barely over 1,000 words. So likely we'll be seeing daily, once every two days or so updates until everyone has been introduced. After that we'll get juicy with details on Emil running away from his family! :D_**

 ** _Emil: Please no._**

 ** _Mathias: ICY ICY ICY!_**

 ** _Emil: NO! I never wanted to see any of you again!_**

 ** _Amethyst: I got your back, boy! *Punts Mathias*_**

 ** _Mathias: I CAN ALSO MANIFEST WINGS I WILL RETURN!_**

 ** _Amethyst: Yeah! Lukas said the same thing and yet he's not back yet!_**

 ** _Emil: ...thanks._**

 ** _Amethyst: *Pats Emil on the head* No problem kid!_**

 ** _Emil: Pretty sure I'm not a kid._**

 ** _Amethyst: I transcend space and time. I am all powerful, all living. I am life. I am power! I am fire incarnate! I AM PHOENIX!_**

 ** _Li Xiang: ..._**

 ** _Emil: ..._**

 ** _Arthur: ..._**

 ** _Valentin: ..._**

 ** _Toris: ..._**

 ** _Amethyst: Whoops, sorry, I just finished re-reading Jean Grey X-men chapters. Anyway where was I? Oh yeah. IT ALL TREMBLES BEFORE ME! I COULD ELIMINATE WHOLE WORLDS! WHOLE GALAXIES! WITH BUT A SINGLE BREATH I COULD SAVE MAN FROM EXTINCTION! YOU SHOULD ALL FEAR MY RAGE AND ALL CONSUMING POWER!_**

 ** _Arthur: And yet here you are, eating cheetos, drinking root beer, and writing about us._**

 ** _Amethyst: I have no regrets. But maybe you will... *Rolls up sleeve*_**

 ** _Arthur: BLOODY HELL NO! *Runs*_**

 ** _Feliks: *Inches up to you* Yeah, so, she kinda went insane. *Whispering* Like, fav, follow and review, ya see? Hope you'll all come back to read the next chapter! Thanks peeps!_**


	10. Netting a Mermaid (Quite Literally)

**_This is the shortest thing I have ever posted. So don't worry, I full intend to update again very very very soon. Tomorrow most likely. Either way, I hope you enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _With Li Xiang and Emil._**

"Ok, it said in the tome that they were right here on this beach."

Li Xiang and Emil looked out over the sand.

It was totally deserted, but the tome hadn't been wrong yet. Granted they'd only tested it once to find Emil, but still.

Li Xiang looked around, finally his eyes settled to scanning the salty water lapping at the shore. Several more powerful waves washed up and his eyes suddenly went wide.

"Emil, there!"

He pointed, and sure enough, a head of dark brown long hair was barely above water and being dragged in by the current a few hundred feet away.

Both of them took off running towards the motionless form.

The girl was being pulled back into the surf, and her eyes were half lidded and weary, she was struggling weakly against the water but it was clear she wasn't going to be able to pull herself out.

One of her arms was pinned to her side by what appeared to be a fishing net, and her entire lower body was completely entangled in the netting. She must have been thrashing in an attempt to escape, for the netting was actually cutting into her arm painfully.

"Whoa..." Emil murmured.

The girl had a shimmery light blue mermaids tail with five swirling iridescent fins starting halfway down the tail, spiraling in a mesmerizing pattern until they all fanned out into the water past the end of the tail, along with a thicker, stronger tail fin. The scales reflected in the light all the colors of the rainbow. She was wearing a sundress a shade lighter blue then her tail and she had red bows holding her hair in pigtails.

Li Xiang was quick to lift her from the water and carry her a safe distance from the waves. He then started to use his pointed, claw like fingernails to cut away the netting.

The girl passed out without saying anything, she was to weak and it was clear she'd been struggling with the net for a long time.

Emil laid her head in his lap so she was comfortable as Li Xiang pulled away the last of the netting. The rope had dug into her arms, but it hadn't broken the skin, there were only several angry looking red marks, nothing more.

"So...a mermaid?" Emil asked.

Li Xiang shrugged.

"Looks like it. She's soaked, should we try to get her dry?"

Emil sighed heavily.

"I don't know, it might hurt her more then help her."

Li Xiang nodded.  
"True."

They stayed for a few minutes in completive silence of what to do when something else amazing happened.

The girls scales started to sink into her skin, and the blue started changing, darkening in color, her tail began to separate.

Emil panicked slightly.  
"Should we put her back in the water?" He asked.

Li Xiang shook his head slowly, eyes wide.

The sea breeze blew over them and it had been slowly drying out the girls tail. Once the last of the scales sank in, the two awestruck boys were met with the sight of a pair of perfectly normal looking legs and feet wearing bright red gladiator sandals. Her skin was a dark, cocoa color and she didn't seem the slightest bit distressed in her slumber by the transformation.

"Ok...I guess she just _does_ that, then?" Li Xiang asked slowly, not entirely sure what to make of this new development.

Emil sighed as he gently rested the girls head to the sand before stepping back.

"Should I...y'know...change? So we can carry her home faster?" He asked.

At that moment a jogger came by, he glanced over to them curiously, then curiosity turned to concern when he saw the girl laying on the ground between them.

"Is everything ok over here?"

Emil started to stutter but Li Xiang spoke up before the faye could attempt to.

"Our friend is just being lazy, after dragging us out here to go looking for sea shells to ad to her dumb collection. Went and fell asleep."

Emil was surprised at the ease at which Li Xiang passed this off.

The jogger didn't seem to buy it.

"You sure nothing serious is going on?" He asked.

"Positive, why?" Li Xiang asked without any sort of hint of panic to his voice.

The man slowly turned and continued on his run, albeit shooting a few glances over his shoulder.

Li Xiang let out a relieved sigh.

"Alright, let's get sleeping beauty back home. Human style." He said before coming to a stand and slipping an arm under the girls knees and the other around her shoulders.

He stood up, bearing her weight easily, and the two boys walked away, leaving trails of footprints in the sand, now carrying a possible addition to their quickly growing home.

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: Now I feel guilty for having such short chapters.**_

 _ **Arthur: I suppose it doesn't matter so long as you update frequently, hmm?**_

 _ **Valentin: I'd have to agree.**_

 _ **Kiku: Indeed.**_

 _ **Amethyst: ...I can't kick him...darn it...I need something to kick...**_

 _ **Mathias: *Swoops in through window***_

 _ **Toris: This room doesn't even have a door, much less a window...**_

 _ **Mathias: I HAVE RETURNED!**_

 _ **Emil: NO! I HATE YOU! YOU ALREADY CHOSE WHO'S SIDE YOU'RE ON! GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!  
**_

 _ **Amethyst: *Evil grin* heh heh heh...*reels back foot***_

 ** _Mathias: What are you OWWWWWW! *Gets punted and flies away out the window.*_**

 ** _Amethyst: I feel so much better now! How about the twins!_**

 ** _Alfred and Matthew: Us?_**

 ** _Amethyst: Oh yeah. Two sets of twins now. No, the other ones._**

 ** _Hyung Soo and Yong Soo: Favorite follow and review! Hey, quit copying me! Stop it! Jerk! Hyung/Yong Soo cut it out! STOP IT! STOP! AHHHHHH!_**


	11. Son of Apollo (Wait, like the theater?)

**_Everyone seemed to be a bit confused, so just to clarify, the mermaid is Seychelles. The human name I use for her is Michelle. Hope that helps! Thanks, and I hope you enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _With Toris and Feliks._**

"So do you even, like, know what we're looking for?" Feliks asked as they walked through the throngs of people in the city streets.

"Not really...but surely we'll be able to tell." Toris replied in a whisper.

As they walked, they passed by a street performer playing mournful music on a violin and Feliks froze in his tracks to watch while Toris kept moving.

After a few moments the latter werewolf realized his friend was captivated by whatever show was going on and went back over to the blonde.

"Feliks now isn't the time."  
"Tory just look at him."

Toris dutifully turned his head to look at the performer in question.

He would admit, the man, more like boy, seeing as Toris judged him to be younger then himself, played beautifully. Toris sighed as he looked the purple garbed boy up and down, he had an odd cowlick, circular glasses, and was wearing a heavy purple overcoat that reached down nearly to his ankles. He had a small beauty mark on his cheek and had begun humming softly to his music.

The moment he finished, he lowered his violin and gave a bow before lifted his open violin case and offered it forward for tips.

Every single human in the rather large crowd he had gathered basically fell into a frenzy to place money in the case.

After all of them had left, Toris and Feliks were left to stare in astonishment at what was possibly three hundred dollars stacked, crumpled, thrown or otherwise deposited into the case. Most of the tender was in dollar bills and coins, but it was money either way.

The boy raised an eyebrow to them expectantly, as if they should have done the same as many others.

Toris recalled a creature from the tome that could do just this with their music.

After a moment of waiting, the boy shrugged off their lack of donations and emptied all of the money from the violin case into a backpack that had been on the ground next to him. He zipped it shut and tucked his violin into the case.

Feliks seemed convinced.

"Hey!" He darted forward.

The boy looked surprised by the sudden approach and took a step back suspiciously.  
"Ja?"

Feliks just stared at him with wide eyes, grinning like a lunatic.

"...a donation?" The bespectacled boy asked, it was a logical thing to assume.

"I would, I totally would, but I've got, like, zilch cash on me. Sorry!" Feliks said with a smile, bright green eyes glittering.  
"So, like, have you ever, y'know, heard of the children of myth?"

Toris froze up, mouth agape at his best friend being so direct, and the purple garbed violinist instantly looked appalled.  
"What? Is that some silly orchestra? I've been approached before, and I've always said no! Good day!" He said curtly before turning to stride away.

"Wait wait wait! It's not an orchestra! Hey! We're talking about guys who are a little less then normal!" Feliks cried out.

The boy froze and his grip on his violin tightened.

He turned slowly.

"I want no part in your labs or experiments." He said in a slow, deliberately controlled voice.

Toris blinked, looking at Feliks in surprise, he'd just gotten the mysterious musician to reveal that he was, indeed, one of them.

After recovering from said surprise, Toris took this moment to pipe up.

"Thats just it, though. We aren't hunters...we're others like...like _you_. The hunted." He said in a hushed voice.

Abnormal violet eyes glinted with curiosity from behind circular frames.

Just as fast as he'd strode away, he walked back, now looking slightly tuckered out from the exercise.

"Are you...different?" He asked, daring to appear hopeful.

Feliks grinned and flashed a double peace sign.

"Takes one to find one!" He exclaimed.

Toris was close to slapping a hand over Feliks's mouth, though it wasn't as crowded, the streets were far from deserted, and they were already getting several strange looks.

The brunette with the crazed cowlick extended the hand that wasn't clutching his violin case.

"My name is Roderich." He said.

Toris shook his hand, and instantly relented when Roderich winced at the unexpected strength of his grip.

"Sorry." He apologized quickly.

"I'm Toris, this is my best friend, Feliks." He said, gesturing to Feliks, who pounced for a handshake and shook Roderich's hand with both hands, up and down so hard Roderich was lifted off of his feet several times.

"Feliks, mind your strength." Toris hissed, as a fellow werewolf, Feliks also had an immense strength advantage over any normal human. He was a little less adept to controlling it though.

Roderich was still clenching at his violin case nervously.

"Where are you from?" Toris could tell Roderich was foreign, but couldn't guess the accent.

"Austria." Roderich responded.  
"Really? I'm Lithuanian. Feliks is Polish."

"You know it! Warsaw is the best capital ever! I'll make everyones capital Warsaw!" Feliks cheered.

Toris sighed at his antics.

"Anyway, we wanted to extend an invitation to you." Toris pressed onward.

Still, the streets were filled with enough people to put the myth creatures hidden in plain sight on edge.

Roderich leaned forward slightly in order to pick up a whisper.

"We're bringing together all the myth creatures we can find. Forming a community of them in a cavern underground. We want you to join us."

Roderich leaned back, looking slightly startled by the news.

"Thats...it's incredible...I never would have dreamt it to be possible."

He murmured.

Toris smiled softly.

"Yeah, not many of the people we've brought in so far have. Everyone thinks they are alone in this world...the only ones who are so different. But there are a lot more of us then anyone could have ever imagined." He said.

Roderich nodded hurriedly several times.

"Of course I want to see it. But I need prof you're actually different."  
Feliks grabbed Roderich by the wrist and took off.

"Feliks!" Toris yelped before running after them.

The runaway werewolf dragged the musician a ways down the street and into the first alley he could find.

"Ok!" Feliks screeched to a halt at the back of the alley and spun around to face the panting Austrian.

"Ta-da!" He removed his bright green military cap with a flourish and bowed dramatically as he unfurled his tail from beneath his jacket.

Roderich stared for a moment before walked up, pinching one Feliks's ears, and pulling.  
"EEEEEK!" Feliks shrieked in a high pitched tone as he hand flew up to his ear and he whimpered.

"What was that for!?" He demanded.

Roderich swallowed hard.

"T-They're real."

"OF COURSE THEY ARE!" Feliks shouted indignantly, waving his arms around furiously.

Toris sighed heavily before stepping up.

"Will you come?" He asked.

Roderich looked from Feliks to Toris several times, then closed his eyes for a moment and made up his mind.

"Yes. I gladly will."

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: SO BORING**_

 _ **Alfred: You hate writing about happy recruiting processes that much?**_

 _ **Amethyst: YES.**_

 _ **Emil: ...ok then...where did me and Li Xiang go?**_

 _ **Amethyst: Back to the Sanctuary to nurse an unconscious mermaid. Duh.**_

 _ **Emil: Ah. Of course.**_

 _ **Amethyst: I AM enjoying what I am currently working on in pre writing right now!**_

 _ **Li Xiang: Oh. What, like, is it?**_

 _ **Amethyst: Well Lukas returns too...**_

 _ **Emil: NOOOOOO! *Covers his ears* No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!**_

 _ **Li Xiang: *Runs over to Emil* It's ok! It's ok! I'll set them on fire if they hurt you! Don't worry!**_

 _ **Amethyst: *Squeals* THE HONGICE IS REAL!  
**_

 _ **Li Xiang and Emil: ...WHAT!?**_

 _ **Amethyst: NOTHING! FANGIRLING! NOTHING!**_

 ** _Kiku: So...that happened. Favorite follow and review. Arigato! *Bows*_**


	12. Of Teleporting Italians and Forest Myths

**_I decided to combine these two debuts just because I feel guilty with these short chapters and want to get a move on! Enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _With Arthur and Yao._**

"So you did not know your little brothers until you met them only a few years ago?" Yao asked, looking amazed.

Arthur nodded.

"It took some prodding, but I managed to get the information out of them that convinced me we were siblings."

"Ah." Yao didn't give much else as a response.

They walked up to the old abandon building that the blip from the tome they were after had appeared in.

"Well, lets go." Yao let out a breath to prepare himself and they strode inside.

They were met with a dangerously unstable looking interior, frowning slightly, Arthur called out.

"Hello? Anyone home? We need to talk to you!"

Both of them froze in place when a arrow struck the wall behind them, obviously a warning shot.

Arthur slowly raised his hands to show he was unarmed.

"We don't want to hurt you!" He exclaimed, emerald eyes squinting into the darkness, trying to detect what had fired the arrow.

"Why should I believe you?" The voice replied, sounding strained.

It was also female, and frighteningly young sounding.

Yao's eyes softened as he appeared to have spotted something in the dark with his powerful golden eyes. Much stronger then Arthur's were.

"I can see you, aru." He said.

Slowly, a girl creeped from the shadows of the corner, her knees were bent low to the ground, eyes narrow as she studied the newcomers.

To both of the newcomers's surprise, there was no bow in her hand, nor any arrows to be seen. She was wearing an old, overlarge pink coat flecked with mud and clearly in need of a wash. She had shoulder length brown, wavy hair, and seemed to stand barely over five feet. She had large, round orange shaded brown eyes that were reminiscent of autumn leaves changing. Under her heavy pink coat she wore a torn dirty white tank top and tan shorts. She was wearing tan sandals.

"How did you find me?" She demanded, voice cracking.

Arthur swallowed hard.

"Look, we're not here to hurt you or take you away. We want to invite you to come with us."  
The girl scoffed, straightening up and crossing her arms defensively.

"Come with you to what? More torture? More pain?" She hissed.

Arthur rolled his shoulders and spread his wings wide with a snap.  
"Aii-yah!" Yao barked as he was nearly hit over the head by the feathered tip, dodging backward, one of his over long sleeves lifted up, exposing red, sparkling scales in patches over his skin.

The girls eyes went wide and Yao was surprised to see tears fill her eyes.

"...you're different." She murmured.

Arthur folded up his wings a bit, still with them free of his jacket and visible.

"So are you, correct? Just like us."

The girl swallowed hard before rubbing one arm, directing his gaze downward.

"I'm part Alseid..." She admitted.

Yao's brows furrowed.

"I've heard of that before...a forest sprite?"

The brunette nodded.

Arthur glanced over his shoulder at the wooden arrow still embedded in the wall.

"Where did the arrow come from?"

The girl in the pink coat lifted her arm, opening her hand and closing her eyes, she exhaled and a curved wooden piece starting growing from her hand, her skin became darker and slightly gnarled like bark, but still smooth and soft.

A bowstring of vines grew and in the other hand the girl had produced an arrow.

She looked up at them.

"I can shift myself to become one with nature. I can't do to much or I'll become exhausted. But this much isn't to hard."

She turned and shot the arrow into the opposite wall.

"I can grow myself into a tree or a flower or things of that sort. I can also just turn parts of my body."

To show this, she extended her arm again and lifted up her palm, causing a delicate, red lily with a golden pollen center to emerge from her whorled, rough skin. She plucked it from where it had grown without feeling any pain and tucked it behind her ear, a small smile on her face.

The fallen angel stepped forward.

"I'm Arthur. This is Yao. You are?"

He offered a hand.

The bow shrank back into the girls hands and the arrow followed suit.

Her skin was still the color of bark, but it was slowly smoothing out and lightening.

She took her hand and Arthur couldn't help but be intrigued by the rough feeling of her skin.

"I'm Wisteria...Wisteria Delpratt." The girl introduced herself.

"It's nice to meet you, Wisteria, aru." Yao greeted.

She looked rather flustered by asking, but questioned nonetheless.

"W-What are you?"

Arthur smiled.

"I'm a fallen angel. 7th generation, that is. All that comes with it are the wings"

Yao nodded to her.

"I am a third generation dragon spawn. Fire cannot harm me. I can also breath it in plumes."

Wisteria's eyes widened, and look of disbelief crossed her face.

"I thought I was all alone. The only one who was different." She whispered, her tears were causing both Yao and Arthur to glance at each other with warmed hearts. This mission they were on was for more then protecting the species, it was bringing these weary, miserable, lonely souls together. For giving children, barely surviving alone, a home.

Yao smiled at Wisteria and offered his hand to her.

"It's not just me and Arthur, aru. I have five younger siblings just like me. Arthur has two brothers like him. We've also got many friends who are like us. And we are bringing more together, aru. There are dozens of us in this city."

Yao tilted his head.

"We could use your help, aru."

Wisteria didn't hesitate to take his hand.

She didn't want to hide in the dark anymore.

 ** _With the Dragon Spawn twins._**

"Where the hell are we!?" Hyung Soo demanded loudly, stomping his foot as he stared up at the small shop they'd ended up out in front of.

"I dunno. I didn't expect to find one of us in a deli." Yong Soo mumbled as he pushed open the door and held it for his brother.

The two entered the small restaurant just in time to hear someone scream.

"THEIF!"

As a flash of green and a bobbing curl shoved roughly past the twins and off onto the busy street.

"After him!" Yong Soo shouted.

"What!? Why!?" Hyung Soo was shocked and yet still gave chase alongside his brother.

The thief darted into a corner and just as Hyung Soo and Yong Soo rounded the corner, he vanished in a crack with a sudden green flash.

The twins were floored.

"He's the one we're after!" Yong Soo exclaimed in amazement before he sniffed offhandedly at the air.

"And he left this weird smell from that teleportation. Great, now we've lost him!"

Hyung Soo suddenly heard another crack from far off in the distance.

"Shh..." He put a finger to his lips as he moved toward the wall and jumped off of it, seizing the ladder of the fire escape.

"He's closer then we think." Hyung Soo gestured for Yong Soo to follow.

That he did, and the two climbed to the roof.

Poking their heads up over the edge of the roof, they spotted the thief they were searching for. He donned worn out looking clothes, a green tee shirt with black stripes on the shoulders and black pants with black boots. The pants were scuffing the ground, to large for his skinny frame, and held up with a black belt. He had auburn hair with an odd, angular curl sticking out.

He was currently seated cross legged on the ground, a plastic shopping bag filled with plain 50 cent rolls on the ground in front of him.

He was devouring them one by one at a desperate speed, constantly looking around as if afraid someone might take the food.

"He stole food...not money." Yong Soo murmured to his brother.

"The way he's eating...must be starving." Hyung Soo agreed.

They glanced to each other, then taking a slow breath, Hyung Soo spoke.

Normally his voice held a harshness that only those who knew him could get past, but he managed to dull it down.

They knew this man was skittish, and on top of that he was a teleporting creature, one wrong word and he'd likely vanish for good this time.

"Hey..."

The man whipped his head around.

Hyung Soo and Yong Soo both gaped openly.

Because he wasn't a man. He didn't look a day over fourteen. His height had been a major throw off, but his eyes were still round with youth, and his face had not yet sharpened into adulthood.

He instantly leapt to his feet, seizing the bag with the remaining bread in it, he backed off. His shoulders tensed, it was clear he ready to put his ability to use again.

Hyung Soo vaulted up onto the roof and put up both of his hands at shoulder level, showing he meant no harm.  
"We aren't gonna take the food. We don't want to turn you in either."  
The boy didn't look convinced.

"Just please, listen." Hyung Soo spoke hurriedly.

Yong Soo stepped up, just a bit closer.

"You're not like other people, right?"

This caused the kid to take another step back, still looking terrified.

Yong Soo quickly pushed up his overly long white sleeve, revealing sparkling red and gold scales creeping in patches over his skin to glitter like jewels in the sun.

"Neither are we. We're sons of dragons. You're not alone."

The kid shook his head softly.

"I knew that..." He forced the words out.

Hyung Soo moved forward slowly.

"Just...don't go disappearing on us yet, ok?"

The kid hesitantly relaxed slightly, swallowed, and moved forward towards them.

"I'm...I'm Romeo." He offered his hand.

The twins both gave a heavy sigh of relief.

"Great. I'm Hyung Soo."

"Yong Soo."

They exchanged names and Hyung Soo gestured in the direction of the forest, which was just barely visible in the distance.

"We're building a safe haven underground. So far we've got almost a dozen myth creatures, and we're going around recruiting more. We've been warned by our ancestors that a terrible fate will befall us and wipe out the species unless we do something about it, and collect everyone we can."

Yong Soo threw his arms into the air.

"It's the classic old strength in numbers theory, but it's not like we have any better ideas."

Hyung Soo punched him lightly in the shoulder.  
"Shut up, so you think disobeying a thousand year old book left to guide us is a good idea?"

Yong Soo whined about how much the punch had hurt, and Hyung Soo merely rolled his eyes.

Romeo stuffed his hands into his pockets, eyes downcast.

"That...that sounds incredible." He managed.

Hyung Soo possessed another skill not a lot of people expected from him, and that was the ability to read people. He even rivaled Kiku.

"Can I ask how old you are?"

Romeo glanced up, surprised.  
"I just turned thirteen, why?"

Yong Soo let out a dismayed squawk.

"Oh come on! You're so tall!" He exclaimed, jumping up and down, infuriated with his own lack of height.

Romeo gave a light hearted laugh.

"Yeah, well. Both my brothers..."

He had clearly been about to comment on his brothers height as a relation to his own, but he trailed off and his eyes took on that downcast expression once more.

"Your brothers..." Hyung Soo looked up at him.  
"You lost them, didn't you?"  
Romeo sniffed slightly.  
"Yeah...they..."

The twins looked up at him, trying not to press.

"They gave me enough time to run."

Hyung Soo looked shocked.  
"What? Run? But you can teleport."

Romeo shook his head.  
"I'm to young to do anything good. My brothers could teleport anywhere they could see. They could even risk a blind attempt and go for close to a mile when necessary. Just had to pray they wouldn't appear inside a wall or stuck in a tree."

The auburn haired boy sighed.

"But I was eleven then. I couldn't teleport more then a few yards in every direction. I couldn't do it multiple times either, like my brothers could. They could teleport over and over again to go great distances. Like taking really long strides when you're running. I could only do that three or four times while they could push themselves past ten. I was just a dead weight. I always knew it. Thats why instead of running, just like we always did. When we were surrounded, my brothers fought. They lost almost instantly. We're not fighters after all..."

A dead chuckle escaped.  
"We Vargas's are just cowards. That's what Lovino used to tell me when I asked why we were always running. Feliciano just went with it. But...they're powers gave them to ability to move fast enough. They gave me enough time to get away."

Romeo roughly wiped at his watering eyes with his sleeve.  
"I dunno what happened to them. Lovi yelled at me to run as far as I could, and when I couldn't run anymore, to keep on walking, and if I couldn't walk, then just crawl. I wound up here."

Yong Soo gave the boy a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"If you don't know what happened, then maybe they escaped! They could be searching for you right now!"

Romeo looked down at him.

"Don't you think false hope is a bad idea?"

Hyung Soo shrugged.

"It's better then dying inside."

"And there's that completely harsh jerk we've been missing." Yong Soo commented.

"Why you little...!"

Romeo watched the brotherly bickering with appreciation.

Because Lovi and Feli used to do nearly the exact same thing.

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: The Italian Bros will return! ...after some necessary delay because of the jerk face labs...*Elevator music***_

 _ **Romeo: Where is the music even coming from?**_

 _ **Amethyst: *Humming along to music***_

 _ **Romeo: Hello?**_

 _ **Emil: *Humming along to music***_

 _ **Romeo: Anyone?**_

 ** _Fallen Angel Trio: *Humming along to music*_**

 ** _Romeo: ANYONE AT ALL!?_**

 ** _Dragonspawn: *Humming along to music*_**

 ** _Romeo: WHAT IS HAPPENING!?_**

 ** _Roderich: *Glances up* Oh...I think I may have accidentally hypnotized everyone...*sets down violin* My bad._**

 ** _Romeo: *Blinks* ...wait, what?_**

 ** _Roderich: To all you good readers out there, please favorite, follow, and review! Thank you all so much for reading! *Conductor bow*_**

 ** _Romeo: ...I'm just gonna go lie down now..._**


	13. Packing up with Scandinavian Faye

_**MY COMPUTER IS ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!**_

* * *

 ** _With Valentin and Ravis._**

"V-Vali. Are you sure you know where we're going?"

"Positive."

They were walking down a street mostly dominated by residential apartment homes in varying states of shabbiness.

"But...we're looking for four myth creatures. Why would they be around here?"

Valentin shrugged in an offhanded way.

"Hey, you, Feliks, and Toris all lived in the same apartment. That's three myth creatures. Maybe these people are just doing the same?"

Ravis sighed.

"Maybe you're right." He then glanced up to Valentin, who was casually strolling along with a black umbrella over his shoulder, shading his face.

He was wearing the hoodie and thick jeans with combat boots that Feliks had all but forced him into.

"Are you ok? It's pretty hot..."

"I'm fine." Valentin snapped.

Ravis instantly took to notice that this was a touchy subject with the vamp, and he quickly busied himself with his hoodie drawstring.

Valentin sighed heavily. "S-Sorry..." He mumbled.

"It's just...not easy...but I don't want any pity."

Ravis nodded hurriedly. "Of course! I u-understand. It's a-annoying wearing h-hats all day, you know?"

Valentin managed a small smile his way.

"Yeah, I'd imagine." He agreed.

A few moments of understanding were shared, and then Ravis proceeded to turn his nose upward in an attempt of picking up their prey.

What exactly he was searching for, he wasn't sure, but he knew that, out of all the myth creatures he'd met in the past few days, they'd all shared some trance of the same scent.

Ravis assumed that this scent could very well be the scent of magic, and he couldn't even begin to describe what it was like, but he caught a soft whiff of it from the building they were now passing.

"This one." He pointed.

Valentin tilted his head in surprise but went with it, they entered the building and Valentin closed his umbrella.

The building was shabby, there was no doorman or front kiosk, it was just a plain lobby with a few under stuffed armchairs and some outdated magazines.

Following Ravis's nose, Valentin was led up the stairs to the fifth floor, where Ravis suddenly halted at one door.

"This is it." He spoke with confidence, something rarely heard from the timid young man.

"You got it." Valentin stepped up to the door.

After a tense moment spent formulating his strategy, he knocked.

A moment or two passed, then a long string of clicks and snaps came from the door, as many, many, many locks were undone.

The door opened up slightly, still held on it's chain.

"Can I help you?"

A striking violet eye stared out at them from the crack.

"We're here...about...well..." Ravis was back to his stuttering, so Valentin took charge.

He put up a charming grin, fangs flashing.

"My friend here sniffed you out, werewolves and all that, and we're here to discuss how your less then human."

The person on the other side of the door's eye narrowed before the door was slammed.

"Um..." Valentin blinked twice before glancing down to his shorter companion.

Ravis sighed. "I think we bombed it."

That was when a final clicking of the chain on the door being removed escaped the separation of wood.

The door swung open, revealing a young man with pale blonde, nearly silver hair, wearing what looked like a dark blue sailor uniform complete with the hat.

"What do you want to sell?" He demanded harshly.

Valentin put his hands up.

"Nothing whatsoever! We're here to extend an invitation!"

The guy raised an eyebrow skeptically and didn't speak.

Valentin assumed this meant he could continue, and pressed onward.

He lowered his voice and spoke in a hushed tone.  
"We're creating a community of myth creatures underground in the forest a little ways from here. So far we've got some dragon spawn, werewolves, fallen angels, and me, a vampire. Oh! And there's this one faye kid we found in an alley."

The mans eyes widened.

"Faye?" He repeated, looking as though he scarcely believed it.

Ravis nodded, "Yes."

The man seemed suddenly on edge. "What's his form? Magic type?"

Ravis furrowed his brow. "Form? Magic type? I'm not sure...well, he _can_ turn into a really big tiger with a black star around it's eye."

"And it's terrifying." Valentin backed him up. "Oh! But his tie always stays on for some reason, it's blue with a red stripe running through it." He then supplied.

"I'm Lukas." The strangely dressed guy introduced himself randomly before shouting into the house.

"MATHIAS PACK UP!"

A whiny voice returned.

"Wahhh? But we just moved here!"

"Don't care! We're moving again!"

"Lukas!"

Valentin and Ravis both took a large step back when a towering man with spiky blonde hair toting an _AXE_ stepped out from within the apartment.

"Why are you carrying around that thing around?" Lukas demanded.  
"I was bored so I decided to sharpen some of my weapons."

Lukas gave him to ultimate 'why do I live with you' look before he pointed back into the apartment.

"Pack up. We're moving."

"You're kidding, they caught up to us again?"

"No. We've just found a better opportunity." Lukas replied smartly.

"You can come in if you want." He said to the two at the door before pushing Mathias into the confines of the apartment.

Valentin shrugged and trailed along behind him, Ravis shut the door behind himself.

They entered what looked to be a mixture of a gunsmiths, a blacksmiths, a witches cave, and an armory.

"Nice...place..." Valentin managed after a few moments.

The living room had a caldron in the middle of it, which was bubbling with something, the fireplace had been replaced with a metal working station, there was a desk to the far side that was covered with bullets, pistols, knives, and other things. The walls played host to an assortment of swords, knives, axes, and a cacophony of other weapons. There was a bookshelf with texts covered with strange etchings. The kitchen had even more caldrons on the stove, a military grade sniper rifle laid disassembled on the counter, and several large, King Arthur style swords were leaned up against the chairs as if they were nothing more then misplaced golf clubs.

"Thanks." Lukas replied dully to Valentin's complement before he strode off into another room.

"Wake up, we're heading out again."

A groan escaped the room.

"Whhhhhy...I just felt comfortable sleeping here without a gun on me..." A high pitched voice whined.

"Tino, you do have a gun on you. All the time. Everywhere you go." Lukas deadpanned.

"Well it isn't OUT." The high pitched voice protested weakly.

As if to balance the very innocent sounding, childlike voice, a deep grunt also came out of the room.

"Have'ta go now?" It questioned.

"Yes. Get up. This time it looks like it'll be permanent."

"REALLY!?"

There was a sudden scramble of motion from within the room and before long two more young men came barreling out with their coats of different shades of blue half on.

Without even noticing Vali and Ravis, they began to organize everything in the living room, and began transporting things from the kitchen into the living room.

Lukas walked over to the two visitors as if the flurry of sudden cleaning in the living room was totally normal.

"Those are my three housemates. Tino." He pointed out the smallest of the group dressed in a shy shade of pale blue.

"Berwald." The overly tall one with glasses and the deep blue, gold edged coat.

"And Mathias." The one who'd come to the door, in a black overcoat and red undershirt.

"All set!" Mathias took a step back.

Tino nodded and Berwald backed off.

"Do your thing!" Tino encouraged.

Mathias put both palms forward and then, suddenly, bent his elbows sharply to pull his arms back so that his palms were facing up just in front of his shoulders.

The room looking like had been caught in a vortex, a swirling of blue and white, like a blizzard, filled the area, everything in the living room glowed the same color, before all of the glowing blue and white mass degenerated, turning pale and shrinking. It was all absorbed into Mathias's palms.

He turned around and brushed his hands off.

"All packed!" He exclaimed.

Valentin and Ravis's mouths dropped open.

Mathias glanced over to them. "What, never seen magic before? Just because we're all faye doesn't mean we all share the same abilities."

Tino nodded along. "True!" He chirped before extending his palm towards Mathias.

"Pass me my workbench. I want all of my weapons on me." Tino demanded.

"You got it!" Mathias gestured with a single hand, two fingers extended, and a small strand of the blue and white mass zipped from his palm and into Tino's.

Berwald put out a hand as well. "Would appreciate ya givin' me ma swords as well." He spoke with a thick accent.

"Sure!" Mathias's voice was brash and chipper as he repeated the process with Berwald.

A few moments of silence passed before a certain vampire finally decided to speak.

"Well...you guys ready to go then?" Valentin suggested.

Lukas nodded. "Lead the way."

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: I'M BACK!**_

 ** _Valentin: You were gone for less then a week._**

 ** _Amethyst: I know. I'M BACK!_**

 ** _Arthur: Yes. We can see that. And hear it. Calm down._**

 ** _Amethyst: So. How's everyone been?_**

 ** _Yao: There is no door._**

 ** _Kiku: And no windows._**

 ** _Emil: And no fridge._**

 ** _Amethyst: What do you need a fridge for?_**

 ** _Emil: ...I'm kinda used to cold is all._**

 ** _Amethyst: Why? Where you grew up it wasn't crazy cold._**

 ** _Kiku: This could be in reference to our cannon characters which would dictate that Emil here is Iceland. This would mean that, as stereotypes dictate our entire former universe, he would be very used to cold weather and susceptible to heat. Therefore, it is obviously necessary for some piece of his former self to remain. This is placed into his fondness of cold weather and his dislike of warm weather. Also can be seen in his style of dress, pale skin, and affection for fridges._**

 ** _Alfred: ..._**

 ** _Emil: ..._**

 ** _Arthur: ..._**

 ** _Valentin: ..._**

 ** _Amethyst: ...Kiku. Go to your room._**

 ** _Kiku: What? There are no separate rooms in here. Besides who are you to tell me to go to my room? I am older then you are, even without being a nation anymore still older then you._**

 ** _Amethyst: *Lights purple electric ball in palm of hand* What was that?_**

 ** _Kiku: NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING! I AM GOING! I AM GOING TO MY NONEXISTENT ROOM! *Sprints away*_**

 ** _Amethyst: *Douses lightning* Good. Glad we understand each other._**

 ** _Everyone: *Awkward silence*_**

 ** _Amethyst: What?_**

 ** _Alfred: NOTHING FAVORITE FOLLOW REVIEW READERS ARE BEST AUTHOR IS SCARY THANKS BROS!_**


	14. A special piece of art

**_Hope you enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _With the Fallen Angel twins._**

Matthew and Alfred had been searching for the better part of the day. Night was falling, and it was Matthew was getting very nervous.

"We're not in a very nice part of town, Al. Maybe we should give it a rest and head back? We can come back tomorrow, when the suns out." He suggested weakly.

Alfred casually wrapped an arm around his brothers shoulders.  
"Don't you worry about a thing, Mattie! I got your back! Anything happens, we go straight up. The skies are our safe spot, no one can get us once we really start trucking."

Matthew shrugged, that much was true, he was able fly at amazing speeds if prompted, and going straight up, once he won out his battle with gravity, he was sailing smooth.

"Hm. Alright, but if it gets much later I want to go home."

Alfred gave him a brilliant grin. "You got it, bro! But seriously, what is it? It's not even that dark, there are street lights everywhere."

Matthew shook his head, looking around at the graffiti covered walls and shady bars that lined the street.

"Its not the dark that I'm worried about." He mumbled.

They were on this very same street when they saw a short person, likely a child, with an overlarge black sweatshirt and jeans on, the hoodie of the sweatshirt was pulled over their head, they were running down the street.

He dodged around the twins and not soon there after two burly men came around, chasing after the child.

"Come back here you brat!"

They roughly shoved the twins, who landed on their rears on the hard concrete.

"Hey! Those guys are after that little kid! We gotta help him!"

Alfred exclaimed.

Matthew instantly panicked. "Al, it's not our business, we shouldn't..."

"Did you see the kid? He's so small, they'll hurt him! The hero always helps those who can't help themselves!"

Alfred jumped up and sprinted off in the direction the men had disappeared in.

"Al! Wait for me!" Matthew hefted himself up and gave chase.

"Listen! We need to careful! We can't beat those guys in a simple fist fight!"

Alfred scoffed as he ran, his shoes skidded on the street as he turned a sharp corner, Matthew stumbling behind him before picking up stride.

"You have a better idea?" Alfred demanded.

Matthew narrowed his violet eyes behind his circular spectacles.

"Actually, I do."

Within an alley a short ways away, the kid had been backed into the dead end.

"Listen here, boy! Give back what you took!" One of the two men who'd pursued him to this point barked.

The boy shook his head hard.

"It doesn't belong to you! It was stolen from me! I took it back! You can't have it!"

The boy clutched a finely made silver flute in his hand.

The other man stepped up.

"Don't make us take it from you. Hand it over while we still feel like playing nice."

The boy swallowed.

"I'll just make you leave!"

He spun the flute nimbly between his fingers, with obvious practice, but just before he could raise it to his lips, there came a voice from above.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The two men looked up and their mouths dropped open when two silhouettes made themselves visible.

Black and white, or black and gold wings, were spread wide, and any specific features were blotted out by the moon directly behind them.

"Sorry, but we aren't a big fan of guys who pick on little kids."

One of them snarked.

"Yeah, might wanna scram before we decide to report back to the big guy upstairs about this."

The other threatened.

The two men were practically tripping over each other trying to run away.

"Angels!?"

"Their wings are half black! More like demons!"

"I must be going insane!"

"I see them to! Run!"

They vanished around the corner of the alley.

The little boy lowered his flute with a relieved sigh.

The two 'angels' came swooping gracefully down into the alleyway, where Matthew pressed a hand to his chest and groaned.  
"That was the most nerve wracking experience I have ever had."

Alfred laughed loudly.  
"Hey, you pulled off that whole 'big guy upstairs' line pretty well!"

Matthew only groaned again as a reply.

The two turned to the boy in the alley.

Only then did they see his face.

A massive amount of unkempt silvery hair spilled from beneath the hoodie, long enough to nearly touch the ground. His eyes were a striking purple color, his skin was perfect, not a single blemish in sight. His bangs were overlong and hanging into his face in greasy, matted strands.

Despite all this, he smiled.

"You saved me."

The two of them gawked at his strange appearance.

By now both had begun questioning if he even was a he.

The boy ran up to them both.

"Are you really angels?"

Alfred scratched the back of his head.

"Well, not really, no. We're descendants of an angel who got kicked out of heaven, then had kids with a human."

The boy's eyes lit up.

"Like me!"

"What!?"

Both of them roared in surprise.

Though, considering the child's strange appearance, eye color, and hair color, this wasn't all to difficult to believe.

The boy nodded several times in excitement.

"My brother told me it was some greek god fell in love with someone from our family and they had kids! Then they moved to Austria, where I'm from, and they spent the next couple centuries there. A bunch of generations went by. Me and my brother are the first in forever to get any abilities though. But...my brother got thrown out because of his powers, and I went with him because I was still really little and my parents didn't want me because I look like a freak. At least my big brother looks normal. I don't."

Matthew was quick to console the boy.

"Don't get down on yourself. I think your hair suits you. And your eyes are very interesting."

Alfred nodded, hoping to boost the newly acquainted myth creature's self esteem. "You're practically a work of art!"

"ART!?" He cried out with absolute joy written across his face.

He hopped up and down with excitement.

"Art! I'm art! You think I'm art!?"

Alfred was surprised by the volume this kid could produce, but went with it.

"Yeah, sure! You're your own special type of art!

"My own art! Yay!"

The kid spun around, looking enthused.

Matthew exhaled, glad that the kid wasn't looking so downtrodden anymore.  
"Well, my name is Matthew. This is my twin brother, Alfred. What's your name?"

"I'm Kaiser! Kaiser Edelstein!" The boy greeted.

Matthew offered him a hand.

"We have a cavern we're building. A place where all the people like us can live together. We'd be so happy to have you join us. What do you say, Kaiser?"

As if the young child of myth needed any more convincing.

"A real home? I'd love that!"

Alfred clapped his hands.

"Great! Mission successful! Let's head home!"

Matthew frowned.  
"I really don't want to have to walk all the way back..."  
Kaiser blinked up at him.  
"Can't you fly?"

Matthew laughed lightly."Well, of course, but you can't."

Kaiser looked over to Alfred, confused. "Can't you carry me? I'm light!"

Alfred snickered, impressed. "You sure? We'll be going pretty high off the ground."

Matthew nodded in concern, "Pretty fast as well."

Kaiser clapped his hands. "It'll be like flying through the stars in the Starry Night painting!"

Matthew shook his head. "Not even close, but I'm fine with it."  
Alfred didn't need any further prompting, he scooped Kaiser off of the ground, the boy gripped his flute tightly, and they took of into the skies, destination set for the forest.

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: And with this, the debut chapters have concluded! :D**_

 _ **Everyone: *Applause***_

 _ **Amethyst: Thank you thank you!**_

 _ **Francis: Marvelous! *Throws rose***_

 _ **Amethyst: Thank you! *Catches rose* NOW GET OUT BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T DEBUTED YET! *Chases Francis away***_

 _ **Arthur: Well she switches gears awful quickly, hmm?**_

 _ **Everyone: Yup.**_

 _ **Amethyst: *Returns* I got rid of him. Now then, next up we'll be having some plot and some drama! I've decided that in between every major event in the story, I'll have a new debut chapter of a creature. One that I just really wanted to write, or one that actually has significance to the story. Plus in the coming up chapters the labs will be making appearances more frequently, so I hope you'll all stay tuned to watch!**_

 ** _Michelle: Oui! So please favorite follow and review! A million thanks to all of you! *Waves*_**


	15. I hate you, so why I can't stop caring?

**_Is this a ridiculously long chapter AND plot that I see!? AMAZING!_**

 ** _Please enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _The Sanctuary._**

Emil and Li Xiang were tending to the girl they'd rescued, with Mei Mei at their sides. They were the first ones back after being sent out, and they were waiting for the others to return even as they watched over the mermaid, whom they'd laid down in the soft grass near the fountain.

"Ugh..." A soft moan escaped her lips as she came too.

Li Xiang's eyes snapped fully open and he called out.

"Emil, she's up!"

The kitten that had been lazing around in the grass now reverted into his human form, hurrying over.

They both leaned over the girl as she woke.

"What...happened?" She sat up stiffly, Li Xiang put a hand on her shoulder to assist as Mei Mei fluttered about in worry.

"We found you tied up in a fishing net on the beach, being dragged into the water" The cantonese boy provided.  
"You...you what!?" She shrieked, instantly shuffling away from them.

Between the two very strange looking, weirdly dressed boys, the oriental dressed girl, the massive cavern with magical runes swimming through the air, and the fountain with the statues, the poor girl was instantly overwhelmed.

Emil put up his hands, transforming into a kitten and bounding over to her before going human again once he was at her side, on his knees.  
"Hey, no need to be scared. As you just saw, we're in no position to be revealing your secret to anyone."

The girl swallowed.  
"You're a magic cat?"

Emil's eye twitched.  
"Faye. I can shape shift, and my best form is a cat. Just because I can't use magic as much as the others doesn't make me just a cat though."

Li Xiang rolled his eyes and jerked a thumb in Emil's direction.  
"He's a little, like, touchy on the subject since most of the other faye can, like, actually use outward magic, and he's just a shapeshifter."  
"Shut up!" Emil snapped at him.

The girl giggled softly at the dynamic the duo had going.

"I am Michelle. Thank you so very much for saving me. I was caught up in that net for hours."

"Another girl! I'm Mei Mei! So happy you're here!" Mei Mei cried out, stationing herself at the mermaids side with a brilliant smile on her face.

Emil and Li Xiang traded their names as well, and soon enough the four were chatting like old friends.

Michelle smiled brighter then the sun as she explained her own situation.  
"I turn into my normal form whenever I get wet! I have gils all the time, and when I hit the water, it takes me a few seconds, but then my legs fuse and I turn into a mermaid. I can also control water...well...sorta." She gestured at the fountain and sure enough she managed to kick up a large, sloppy wave.

She laughed awkwardly, "Not very good at it, though."

Emil nodded in agreement. "So, where are you from?"

Michelle cocked her head as she replied.  
"Seychelles. I swam from island to island. I could just live in the ocean if I wanted to. I can eat raw fish and seaweed, it doesn't bother me. But I would be really lonely."  
Li Xiang fake gagged. "Ew."

Emil elbowed him. "Don't knock it til you try it. Raw fish is good."  
Li Xiang glared at him. "I thought you said that you weren't a cat."

"Shut up! Don't get me started!"

Li Xiang laughed at his reaction, and Mei Mei often whispered comments into Michelle's ear, all of which got her to giggle madly behind her hand.

Michelle enjoyed the company, and they talked for a while longer until a shout echoed from the mouth of the tunnel that served as an entrance.

They looked up to see Feliks and Toris, followed by a dizzy looking guy dressed all in purple.

"That slide was ridiculous...not to mention you kissing the wall..." He groaned even as he twirled about on his heel trying to regain his balance.

"So you found someone too?" Li Xiang asked, sounding bored.

Emil snickered, "We caught ours."  
Michelle huffed at the two of them

"What am I, a collectable?" She demanded.

Li Xiang shrugged. "Gotta catch 'em all." He replied.

Emil burst out laughing at him, Mei Mei snorted, and Michelle swatted the dragon spawn over the head.

Feliks dragged the myth creature they'd 'caught' over to the teens.

"This here is Roderich! He's some sort of music hypnotizer person!"

Roderich glared at him openly. "Son of Apollo, thank you very much."

Emil rolled his eyes.

"And I call myself the Son of Titania all the time. Nope."

Feliks stared blankly at him.

"I thought you were a magical kitty fairy!"

Michelle, Mei Mei, and Li Xiang all started coughing in an attempt to cover up their fits of laughter.  
"I hate you all." Emil growled darkly.

Toris sighed heavily, shaking his head.

They spent the next hour or two helping the newcomers get comfortable with the cavern before another scream notified them of more people coming down the shoot.

In stumbled a little girl with skin the texture of a trees bark, flanked by Yao and Arthur.

She spun around a few times before giggling airily.

"That was fun! Again! Again!" She sang.

Yao frowned, "I think she may have hit her head."  
Arthur shook the pink garbed girl by the shoulder.

"Wisteria! You alright?"

Wisteria shook her head hard several times before snapping out of her supposed trance.

"I'm fine. Sorry. That tunnel slide was a doozy."

Yao simply made a beeline for his sister.  
"Are you ok? You were here all alone."  
Mei Mei waved a nonchalant hand.

"I'm fine, Gege! I explored a bit more and before I knew it, Emil, Li Xiang, and Michelle were back!"

She then sprung on Wisteria.  
"Yay! Another girl! This is great!"

Michelle was surprised that Mei Mei was so happy there were now multiple females, so Li Xiang leaned over and murmured from behind his hand.  
"She's my only sister. It was her versus me and my four brothers. We've never lived with another woman save my mother, who passed away when she was three. She's deprived of femininity in her life."

Michelle gave a small 'ah' as a reply and silently made it her new mission to be as girly as possible to give Mei Mei a good taste of what she'd missed out on.

 _Hair braiding, gossiping, window shopping, and plenty of nail polish is coming your way, Mei!_

Michelle gave her personal oath.

With this, Wisteria was welcomed into the group as well Roderich, and soon enough friendly chatter reigned. Not soon after another loud series of thuds echoed out from beyond the tunnel view.

"We got a fresh one!" Li Xiang crowed in good humor.

Yao gave him a severe look even as the next unprepared new myth creature came stumbling in followed by the dragon spawn twins.

"Wow! This place is huge!" He cried out excitedly, craning his neck to look up at the air filled with mystic twisting strands of runes.

Romeo was welcomed into the rapidly growing crowd of socializing myth creatures. An hour or so later yet another amount of bodies came crashing into a pile notified them of a much larger group arriving.

Emil snickered at something Li Xiang had said even as a far to familiar gathering of four came in alongside Valentin and Ravis.

The faye boy's eyes widened as he looked over to them, he was suddenly thankful for the small yet closely knit knot surrounding where he, Michelle, and Li Xiang were sitting near the fountain. Romeo and Wisteria stood in front of them conversing with Arthur and the twins. Yao was standing to their side listening in on the conversation while half hearted paying attention to Mei Mei babbling to the left. All in all, Emil was completely surrounded, momentarily defending him from facing his worse nightmare. He pulled his knees up to his chest as his dragon spawn friend leaned in close and whispered to him.

"That guy with the sailor outfit. He reminds me of you."

Emil clenched his teeth, of course Li Xiang would be the one to see the vague resemblance they shared. "That's my older brother."

Li Xiang instantly took on a kind face, happy for his friends supposed good fortune. "Really? Awesome!"

The feline faye shook his head. "No. I ran away from home to get away from him. I didn't want to see him again unless it was on my terms. When I left we..."

His eyes misted over slightly.

"...weren't on good terms. Haven't been on good terms for years. I couldn't take living with him anymore, so two months ago, I ran away."

The golden eyed teen winced. "Oh. Damn. Do you want to hide? I'll set something on fire to cover your back."

He was only half joking. In fact, he was already eyeing the hem of Yong Soo's hanbok, which looked like a prime victim. Seeing as not his sibling nor his clothes could actually be burned by the fire, all that would happen was Yong Soo being spooked, going up in flames, then chasing Li Xiang around trying to set _him_ on fire as revenge.

It was a normal enough occurrence in his family, but since none of the other myth creatures here had seen them pull this particular trick, it would serve as a perfect distraction. Unfortunately, before Li Xiang could get to deep into his plotting, the shape shifter at his side acted once more.

Emil scoffed, eyes downcast, burying the lower half of his face into his folded arms atop his pulled up knees.

"Hide? From Lukas?"

A pathetic sigh.

"Nah. He knows I'm here, he can sense me already. If I'm terrible at magic, then he's the opposite of everything I am. He can sense other magical beings within a certain radius without even trying. He has ridiculous spacial awareness and can cast spells, runes, charms, you name it, in a second. I'm nothing compared to what he can do. Ice wings to fly, power blasts, rune shields, incantations, healing potions, summoning trolls, whipping up blizzards out of nowhere in the middle of the summer. He can do it all with the flick of a wrist the mutter of a few words. The runes obey him, it's always been so easy for him. In fact..."

Emil smirked bitterly.

"...the only thing he _can't_ do is shape shift. No matter how hard he tries, his body won't turn to smoke like mine can. Not like he ever has tried more then once or twice."

Emil shot a look over to his brother, who was still putting up the facade that he didn't know Emil was there.

"I swear I can't take much more of what I know is coming."

Li Xiang looked surprised, and glanced over to the newcomers. The four faye had been roped into introductions to the werewolf trio, and Feliks was demanding their attention. He was demanding about how their magic worked and if they were actually fairies, if they had wings and if they were cool colors like pink and orange. Mathias was laughing like a madman, but Li Xiang didn't miss the way the one in the sailor uniform, Lukas as Emil had said, was scanning to amount of people.

Li Xiang sighed. "Take much more of what?"

Emil forced his head lower into his folded arms.

"He never let's me go. Its not like he acts like he cares either. He treats me like an object he's obligated to protect. Nothing like what I've seen from your siblings. They all have a soul, at least. Lukas doesn't show any emotions other then irritation or anger. He's never been the most expressive of people. He always had a hard time acting loving or caring, but he tried. He really did try. And it showed, I could always tell he cared, back then. From his insistence that I call him 'Big Brother' to the him forcibly hugging me every morning and night. To him coming into my room when he sensed I was having a nightmare. But ever since we came to the city five years ago after being attacked by the labs, it's gotten worse. That's why I left. Because I couldn't take living with an ice statue as a brother anymore."

Li Xiang looked genuinely concerned. When he'd first met Emil, he thought that he was a classic case of a smothered teen trying to rebel. But it didn't even seem as though Emil was smothered. It was more like he was treated as an annoying ward. Not cared for, but protected out of reluctant duty.

Li Xiang let his gaze wander across Emil's dejected appearance, how he refused to meet the golden gaze with his weary slitted pink eyes.

Thinking about it, Li Xiang was certain he would have run away as well.

The dragon spawn took a breath to speak to his friend, in an attempt to provide some sort of comfort.

"EMIL!"

He was cut from the chance when Emil was snatched off of the ground by the tall, spiky haired faye that had arrived with Lukas.

"Gah! Mathias! Put me down! Let go!" Emil squirmed around in Mathias grasp before he punched the dane across the face.

Letting out a shocked gasp, the scandinavian's head snapped to the side, and Emil took advantage of the moment of weakness in the arms wrapped around him.

Shape shifting into white smoke, he escaped the hold, solidifying into a kitten which nimbly evaded Mathias's attempts to snag it.

Emil the kitten leapt to the ground, darting several yards away, and then shifted back into his humanoid form, he came from his kitten form into a crouched position. Straightening up, he glared at Mathias from a safe distance. Li Xiang had come to his feet when Emil was snatched up, and was now standing to what appeared to be Emil's side of the argument. Coincidentally, within the scramble of motion of when Mathias had spotted Emil, the community of myth creatures that Emil had joined in his brothers absence had gathered behind the faye boy.

Now it almost looked as though there were two sides to the silent battle. Lukas stood with his three housemates, and across, Emil was flanked by Li Xiang and Michelle, backed up by the rest of the group. It was odd, but even though they all had no idea what was going on, they'd still moved to stand to Emil's defense if ever necessary.

Lukas's eyes were wide, staring at Emil with a strange distance.

Li Xiang saw what Emil meant in a heartbeat by how Lukas was never attached. Had he just been spotted by Yao after almost three months of being missing, Yao would have likely begun crying. He'd throw his arms around Li Xiang and exclaim about how worried he'd been. Had Li Xiang confessed his troubles, then he did not doubt Yao would apologize for being so ignorant. He'd be willing to change anything about himself at all, if it would only make sure his baby brother wouldn't run away again.

The dragon spawn felt a seething rage billow his chest as he looked across from where he stood his ground at Emil's side. The boy he'd befriended was visibly trembling with emotion at seeing Lukas again, but his brother didn't show anything. He didn't move, didn't speak, didn't even look anything more then vaguely agitated. His violet slitted eyes, mirroring Emil's in all but color, half lidded, almost looking bored.

"Well? No explanation for running off on us?" His voice sounded like that of a ghost, breezy and eerie. The fact that his voice barely held any sort of presence at all only donated generously to that feeling of cold annoyance about the older.

Emil bent his head slightly at the harsh greeting, and Li Xiang could sense how close he was to snapping.

"You should know we searched just about everywhere for you. I even risked us being caught on radar to perform a rune burst to try and pick up your trail. Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? Your dramatic outburst could have gotten all five of us caught. I thought I raised you not to be so selfish."

Li Xiang raised a hand.  
"Emil..." He murmured, resting it gently on his friends shoulder. If Emil felt the touch, he didn't react to it.

How was the youngest faye bearing this?

Lukas was lecturing him and Emil wasn't making any moves to tell him off.

Lukas tilted his head to the side, his hat not even moving from the change in pose.

"One would think you're trying to get me pissed off at you. I can't understand it, really."

Even the others, who'd gathered behind one of their youngest, were shocked by the coldness of his voice. It sounded like he was lecturing a misbehaving child for shattering a plate. Nothing like close to the magnitude of the situation that was at hand.

"Emil...why...?" Arthur began.

"How can you speak to your own little brother like that!?" Yao shouted furiously. He knew a thing or two about misbehaving siblings, but this was going to far.

The din rose once the fact that Emil was this mans younger brother came out.

"He's been missing for months and that's how you greet him? What the hell kinda brother are you?" Hyung Soo barked. His harsh, powerful voice boomed easily and actually caused Lukas to raise an eyebrow. But despite all of the accusations being hurled his way, the powerful faye didn't so much as bat an eyelash.

"I fully agree! How could something like that ever convince him to go back to you! He's better off here if that's how you talk to him!" Arthur exclaimed.

Li Xiang was the only one to notice how Emil's shoulders were shaking. Everyone there, all of the ones he'd come to care about. Even the ones like Michelle who'd only known him several hours, they spoke with an honest anger about them, an honest concern as well. How could all of these people, some who were still practically strangers, speak higher of him then his own brother? The one who had raised him? The one who'd once pestered him and played cards with him and read him bedtime stories? What had ever happened to the Lukas like that? The one who tried to explain to him how the runes worked, helped him learn to control his shape shifting, force fed him pickled herring and carried him on his back when they were walking for long hours with no destination in sight. Just the two of them. Even when they'd met Mathias, Tino, and Berwald while traveling, his attitude hadn't changed. Yet, five years ago, two years after meeting the other three, Lukas had changed. Changed into this cold creature who didn't bother to give Emil so much as the time of day. Suddenly the pestering stopped. The card games halted, the daily dose of rune education or the sudden snowball striking him in the back only for Emil to turn to see Lukas innocently whistling all vanished.

 _Why?_

The young faye pondered this amidst the calls of his new comrades as they attacked the new recruit with a tirade of insults, several were swarming him, asking if he were ok, and to this Emil responded with nothing. His eyes stung bitterly with tears. Because what was the point, really? Lukas never bothered with him anymore, so why did Emil still care so much that it physically hurt when he heard his brother talk to him like that.

 _He's all I've got._

Tears fell quickly and Emil didn't care, they streamed down without abandon, from beneath white-silver bangs that shaded his eyes.

 _He's all I have anymore. My parents are dead. Our home was destroyed. There's no way for us to get back to Norway anyway. But if he treats me like this, why should I care so much anymore? Why does it feel like a dagger driving deeper into my heart with every soulless glance my way? My brother..it not who he used to be._

Emil crushed his eyes shut and fisted his hands.

 _If he'll never be my brother, my real brother, ever again, then what's the point of crying over it? Nothing. He should be nothing to me, just like I am nothing to him. But why, then?_

The tears kept coming, his heart kept jumping erratically, he kept feeling that same horrible pang that rocked his body when he attempted to give the man still standing casually a few yards away.

 _Why can't I stop CARING!?_

Emil let out a cracked laugh, it sounded dry and without any humor.

The calls and insults ground to an abrupt halt, and everyones attention was focused onto one of the youngest of the cavern.

Lukas took a step back when Emil strode up to him, standing up at his full height so he could bear into his brothers face.

"AM I NOTHING!?"

He shouted loud enough to cause Lukas to jump back slightly in surprise.

Violet eyes flew open wide when they saw the violent tears breaking down his brothers pale cheeks.

"Why are you..." He began slowly, but Emil cut him off with a swipe of his arm in the air.

"You treat me like an object! Like something you've gotta protect because you got the short end of the stick, landed with me! You never care anymore! If you still do you never show it! I'm sick of this!"

Emil voice broke harshly from it's current treatment.

"You can't understand it? How can you be so cold!? You're nothing but a block of ice that pretends to be my brother! Every time I do something wrong you get angry! Every time stay with you like you tell me too, you get annoyed with me for being there! I can't win! Do you think I like our situation!? No! I hate this! And now I've finally found a place to call home, with people who show more care for me since knowing them a _week_ then _you_ have in the past five years! What the hell happened to making me call you 'big brother'? To the damn stupid card games you used to make me play? To how you used to insist on hugging me every night before bed? I hated all that until I lost it! Now I'm lucky to see you smile once a month, and it's only when Mathias does something stupid or one of your dumb potions finally works! As if you care more about your caldrons and spell books then you ever could about me! That's it! I'm done with being your responsibility! That's why I left you all! I don't hate the other three."

Emil's eyes steeled as tears continued to flow.

"But I do _hate_ you!"

Lukas took another stutter step backwards, looking as though he'd just been physically struck by the younger.

"I hate you because I can't stop caring about you! I keep on crying and feeling guilty for leaving and feeling awful about how you act because I wonder if it was something I did! I think and I think but I can't find any reason that you would start this! That you would stop loving me! Dammit, I hate you so much because I can't stop crying about this! Why can't you be nothing to me, like I am nothing to you!?"

Emil took several deep, uncontrollable breaths, his throat constricted by sobs that were barely being held back, after his rant subsided before he spat out dejectedly.

"It's like the only reason you try and keep me alive is to make sure Mom and Dad's deaths weren't for nothing. Maybe you're afraid of them being ashamed of you, huh? Well even if they aren't ashamed to call you their son, I'm ashamed to have to admit you're my brother!"

Emil shoved past the older faye, shouldering him roughly, and charged towards the exit tunnel at a sprint.

"Emil, wait!" Tino tried to stop him but in a burst of white smoke he'd degenerated his body into that of a minuscule cat, darting in between the snipers legs and out underneath the slab, which lifted to allow him to exit.

"Emil! Dammit, wait up!"

Li Xiang pursued him without a second thought.

* * *

 ** _Amethyst: I HAVE BEEN WAITING SO LONG TO POST THIS!_**

 ** _Emil: DAMMIT NO! I NEVER WANTED TO SEE ANY OF YOU AGAIN! *Runs*_**

 ** _Lukas: *Creepy Silence*_**

 ** _Romeo: You ok over there, Mr. Omnipotent faye guy?_**

 ** _Lukas: I am not omnipotent, what gave you that idea?  
_**

 ** _Li Xiang: But Emil told me all about how you're crazy good with, like, magic and spells and, like, can fly and stuff._**

 ** _Lukas: Everyone BUT Emil in our group can manifest wings._**

 ** _Mathias: Yup._**

 ** _Tino: Me too._**

 ** _Berwald: Uh-huh._**

 ** _Li Xiang: Ok...well then how about the powerful spells?_**

 ** _Lukas: *Heavy sigh* The truth is..._**

 ** _Amethyst: AND WE'RE ALL OUT OF TIME PLEASE TUNE IN NEXT WEEK (OR TOMORROW OR LATER TODAY OR IN A COUPLE DAYS I HAVE NO CLUE) FOR THE NEXT EPISODE IN EMIL'S PERSONAL HELL! THANK YOU!_**

 ** _Yong Soo: When did you become a TV narrator?  
_**

 ** _Amethyst: When did you become an important character? *Jumps and throws arms into the air*_**

 ** _Everyone: OOOOOOHHHHHHHH! *Runs around next to Amethyst while Hyung Soo catches Yong Soo when he faints from the burn and starts fanning him*_**

 ** _Arthur: That wasn't even that funny...ok whatever. Favorite, follow and review! Thank you all for reading!_**


	16. Honestly

**_Back to Emil's personal hell! Please enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _Above ground._**

Li Xiang ran through the thick trees, shouting out his friends name over and over again.

As he pushed his way through another tightly grown grove, he came across a small creek snaking it's way through the woods.

"Emil! It's Li Xiang! Where are you?" He called again, cupping his hands around his mouth in order to throw his voice farther.

He caught a distant sound of sniffling and chased after it without hesitation. Leaping the creek, he came to a halt underneath one of the many towering trees within the area. Sitting at the base was the one he was looking for.

Emil had pulled his knees up again and was trying to conceal the fact that he was quickly breaking down by hiding his face within his knees and arms.

"Emil!" Li Xiang breathed an audible sigh of relief at the sight of the boy in his humanoid form.

He was afraid the faye would transform into his tiger form to lose himself in the city. From there, if Emil didn't want to be found, it would be impossible to catch up to him. Emil moved far faster then anyone they had at their disposal. The lost angel trio, not even Valentin with his powerful bat wings could have caught up to a bounding tiger. Not to mention that, if he were to take his kitten form, every trash can, gutter, car underside and drain pipe became a prime hiding place.

Settling onto the grass at the white haired males side, Li Xiang put a steady hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly.

Emil wiped roughly at his face with the sleeve of his coat. His pale skin was red and blotchy, and his eyes were rapidly turning bloodshot.

"He didn't even...not even then...when I stood up to him...nothing...he just looked mad at me..." His voice was pitchy and he was struggling to force out his words through a constricted throat.

Li Xiang tightened his arm over Emil's shoulder.

"It's ok. We'll find a way to deal with it. There has to be a reason why he's acting this way."

Emil coughed brokenly, choking on his own held back sobs.

Li Xiang sighed, "It's ok not to be so tough, you know. I'm not going anywhere. Not even if you break down. I'm not going to leave you alone."

It took several more minutes of stiff silence before Emil melted up against Li Xiang's chest, fisting at the front of his robe and breaking down completely.

He'd been alone, confused, and mostly angry for the past two, nearly three, months. He didn't understand what he'd done so wrong to deserve the treatment his brother was delivering.

Li Xiang rubbed circles into Emil's back, trying to help him calm down. It would help no one if the faye kept this all bottled up inside of him. That would do nothing but make Emil harder to reason with should the time come that Lukas was willing to explain his strange change in affection towards his little brother.

After a solid ten minutes during which Emil struggled to stop himself from shattering any farther, the feline formed creature stopped outright sobbing, and Li Xiang still didn't make any moves to pull away. He did take the opportunity to speak, though.

"Feel better?"

Emil pulled away softly, slowly, and took several deep shuddering breaths.

"Yeah. I didn't think I would. I thought I'd feel even more pathetic. But I feel like I've leveled off a bit."

Li Xiang gave him a wry smile as he plucked at the wet spot on his robe.

"Hey, now you've gotta pay for my dry cleaning."

Emil gave a choked laugh, his throat still constricted with emotions.

Li Xiang replied to this with a lopsided grin and a tilt of his head.

"What do you want to do?"

Emil shook his head softly.

"I'm really tired. I want to go back, but..."

Li Xiang nodded. "You don't want to see him yet. I understand. The grass is plenty soft for a single night, I guess. It's almost seven, I'd guess, just by looking at the sun." He mumbled.

Emil was about to chuckle again as he too turned his gaze skyward, when he froze up, staring up into the skies with a look of defeat on his face.

"He can't just leave me alone, can he? Not even now..." Emil moaned softly, curling his knees to his chest as there was a sudden brisk rustle of leaves. In a rush of icy air, Lukas descended from the sky, borne on wings built of thin sheets of crafted frost. They looked like butterfly wings, with gorgeous snowflake patterns that crisscrossed the lighter colored parts of the wings with darker hues of blue.

The instant his feet touched the ground the wings exploded with a soft, tinkling, shattering sound. Like a champagne glass that had just been dropped to it's destruction.

"Emil..." Lukas spoke breathlessly once his eyes rested upon the younger.

Though Emil refused to look, Li Xiang caught somethings in there that hadn't been seen before.

Fear.

Desperation.

Shock.

Out of it, the thing that came through the strongest was a deep, biting _worry_.

All of it directed to the younger faye. Where had that been when he'd first arrived? Had it been Emil's sudden rise that had caused Lukas to have a change of heart?

 _Or could it be his heart had never changed at all in the first place?_

"Leave." Emil forced the word out, still not looking Lukas in the eye.

"I can't..." The older began, taking a step forward.

"LEAVE! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Emil shouted again, rapidly rising to his feet and stomping several steps forward, causing the older to back off. His throat burned in protest to the raise in his volume.

The feline boy's fists shook, his eyes were crushed shut and he was close to tears again.

"Why don't you just listen to me!? You don't think of me as a person anymore, so why do you even bother to try? Stop wasting your breath because I'm not going to listen! Just leave me alone!"

Lukas tried to move forward again and Emil narrowed his eyes, and white smoke slowly began to take over his legs.

Lukas halted his movement abruptly, not wanting to prompt Emil to run again.

Or, even more terrifying of a prospect, to take on his powerful tiger for and move forward instead of back.

"Emil...please..I need too..." Lukas began slowly, looking to the younger brokenly.

Emil scoffed. "Need too what? Give me another lecture? Another damn lesson in how I put every in danger?"

Lukas winced, realized he'd actually greeted the younger with both.

Emil tossed his arms into the air, having been pushed far beyond his limits.

"News flash, I left! Did I ask you to come after me? _NO!"_

Emil stomped his white booted footed to the ground in barely restrained aggression. Lukas's face was quickly changing, he looked more and more distressed. Emil couldn't bring himself to look him in the eye, yet Li Xiang noticed it.

Lukas was trying to think of what to do or say to get his message through.

What his message _was_ was what Li Xiang was worrying about.

"I _never_ wanted to see you again! What the hell else do I need to say to get you away from me!? I swear to god, I can't take this any..."

Emil trailed off as Lukas strode forward at a brisk pace, closing the distance between them.

Emil took a few steps backwards.

"What are you doing?" Emil demanded.

The older wound up doing the very last the younger had dared to expect.

Something that he hadn't done in a very long time.

Lukas closed his arms around Emil in a bone crushing hug. Pulling him close and planting one hand firmly to the back of the younger's head.

"I was worried sick." He spat.

"Dammit, I didn't sleep for days after you disappeared. I looked for you for hours on end every single day. How could you do that? Why didn't you just tell me that's how you felt? I would have stopped the way I was acting for you in a heartbeat if I only knew. I didn't think I'd ever drive you to leave."

Emil's arms were frozen, sticking out awkwardly from his sides, unable to figure what to do.

 _Pull away?_

He asked himself.

 _Or...listen to him?_

Lukas didn't let go of him. Not even when his embrace wasn't returned.

"I didn't know how to handle it when they started hunting us."

Emil didn't have memory of that time, they'd been hunting them for as long as he could remember. He supposed Lukas, who was nearly five years his senior, would be able to recall that time well.

"What good are all of my powers when I couldn't do a thing against their weapons? They almost caught you five years ago. I was to weak to do anything but circle in the air and scream. Their armor and guns deflect direct magic. Berwald fought them away with his sword. Tino can shoot. Mathias has his axe. You're the most powerful out of all of us against them because your magic is a physical change, so they can't take it away from you. Your essence isn't your life force. If I get drained of my magic, it'll kill me. I can't survive without magic energy in my veins. But you. Even if you were drained of magic, you'd be ok. You're stronger then I could ever hope to be, because even down to biology you can fight, while I can do nothing to help you. I'm pathetic compared to you when we have to face men who are after our lives."

Emil felt the air leave his lungs at this statement, his shoulders relaxing slightly from the weight of Lukas's arms locked around his neck.

Lukas felt inferior, compared to _him_?

"So what if I can fly? Cast spells? Draw runes? None of that does a thing against those people. I can knock them around, shield myself, defeat a few, but you can actually stop them. Hurt them. When they almost caught you and I couldn't do a thing, I knew I needed to find a way to get stronger. I started studying spell books more, learning more physical combat spells. I even started watching how you shape change, because I want to learn to do it myself. I didn't understand it, no matter how hard I tried. For hours on end I'd practice. I could never turn into smoke like you have always done so easily. I didn't give up on learning physical impact spells, though. Otherwise I'd be nothing short of a hazard to your safety."

Emil didn't understand. His safety? This was sounding dangerously close to what the Lukas of five years ago, a Lukas only sixteen years old, had lived by. When Emil's safety was the only thing that ever mattered. So long as Emil was alive and well, then the older could consider his mission complete.

What rocked Emil's entire conscious was the fact that, perhaps, just maybe, Lukas still lived by that same promise to this day. That he'd never once viewed Emil as a burden or an annoyance. That he'd only ever wanted to take care of the young shape changer.

Emil was dragged from these stomach churning thoughts when Lukas's ghostly voice pierced the silence once more.

"Until I was able to stand by your side in battle, I felt like I didn't have the right to remain close to you. Following that thought process I'd cut you off. I stopped because if the time came when I was in danger and you were able to hold your own, I didn't want you risking your life to save mine. I figured that if I could make you more distant from me, somehow, that you'd be better protected, because once the day comes that I get captured, or I'm about to be killed, you wouldn't bother trying to save me. You wouldn't care."

Emil gritted his teeth.

"I've been trying to figure out how to hate you for months now. Still can't find a way." The silver-white haired boy scoffed.

Lukas pressed onward "I was so far out of line. I know you better then that. Despite how I've treated you, how much I've tried to distance myself, you would still try and save me. You would still try and help me, wouldn't you?"

"Obviously. Even if you've started being a jerk, that doesn't mean you've stopped being my brother. Blood isn't something you can change by turning yourself into an ice block. " Emil grumbled. He still sounded angry, though, and this caused Lukas's ghostly voice to trudge on. Strangely, though, he seemed to be having trouble speaking. His throat sounded like it was closing up on him.

 _Is he...he couldn't be..._

Emil thought to himself in shock.

Lukas, meanwhile, spoke again. "I thought you'd be happy that I'd stopped pestering you. I never imagined you actually liked all the things we used to do. I never thought _I'd_ drive you to run away from home. In trying to make you safer, all I managed to do was push you so far away that I wouldn't even be able to know if you were alive or dead. I wouldn't be able to help if you were ever hurt or in danger. Everything I'd ever wanted to do, all I managed was to make it harder on both of us."

Emil was still frozen in place. He didn't know how to react to what Lukas was saying. Mostly because it combatted everything that Emil had ever thought his brother had changed into. The part that flipped his world the most was that Lukas had _never_ changed. His heart was still in the same place as it had always been, overly concerned, critical of his own abilities, and willing to do anything for his only family.

"I'm so sorry."

Emil almost missed the apology, it was barely even audible. A soft whisper from an eerie, ghostly voice that had always sung him lullabies and told him bed time stories and given up that little tinkle of laughter that no one else in the world was able to draw from the stoic scandinavian.

It wasn't even up for debate anymore, withholding forgiveness.

After all, an honest apology was all the young faye had ever really wanted.

He returned the embrace hesitantly, but eventually didn't mind giving it back. Lukas felt the warmth of his brothers arms closing around his shoulders and only wound up clinging on tighter.

Emil spoke slowly, trying to form the right words.

"I'm a brat sometimes. It annoyed me when you used to coddle me. But then when you started acting cold, only noticing me when I got into trouble, I realized how much I'd missed it. I felt like you didn't care about me anymore, all you cared about was keeping me alive. Only because it was the last thing our parents ever asked you to do."

Lukas grasped at the back of Emil's coat.

"Idiot. You're my baby brother. Of course I want to fulfill what Mom and Dad wanted, but I love you more then anyone else on the planet. You're all I've got left. That's why I'm overprotective sometimes. I don't mean to be, but I can't risk losing you. Five years ago when you were almost taken away from us, I felt like I was only buying time with my concealing runes and shield spells. I wanted to get stronger in order to be sure that next time I'd be able to fight with you instead of hover around in the air and watch. Fool I was, I didn't see how you felt about my actions. Please forgive me."

"Yeah. I do. Just remember, I'm fifteen. I'm not a little kid anymore. I don't mind you watching my back, but I can take care of myself."

Lukas caved. "I will. Don't expect me to be letting you run off again, though."

Emil gave a humored huff.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Lukas gave a heavy sigh, and Emil picked up a slight shudder to his shoulders.  
 _Is he...crying?_

Emil swallowed the lump in his own throat at the thought.

His brother has been placed into a situation beyond his years. But throughout it all, the thing that had been most valuable in his life, was not his own survival, but that of his beloved baby brothers.

The only one he had left in this world.

To do this, he was willing to cut himself away from the person he cared about so deeply, even if he had been misinformed. It was all over now. Lukas had made a mistake, all that did was prove he was, indeed, _at least_ half human. Mistakes were to be made by everyone. Emil himself had even been partly at fault for jumping to conclusions and then running away instead of confronting the problem. But no matter what had happened, Lukas was willing to change. To go back to his old self, if it only meant that the shapeshifter wouldn't feel the need to run anymore.

Emil could forgive him for that.

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: How many of you feel bad for misjudging Lukas now? Hmm? I know a certain one of you wanted to give him the finger. I'm looking at you justlikecanada.**_

 _ **Matthew: What?  
**_

 _ **Amethyst: Nothing.**_

 _ **Arthur: So...now what?**_

 _ **Amethyst: Your worse nightmare.**_

 _ **Arthur: Wait, what!?**_

 ** _Francis: Ohonhonhon...my time is coming!_**

 ** _Allistor: This ought'a be a good time...better then swimming around aimlessly._**

 ** _Amethyst: BOTH OF YOU! OUT OUT OUT OUT! *Punts Allistor*_**

 ** _Allistor: AHHHHHHHH! *Splash* Damn it! Don't you know how long it takes to dry my stupid tail out!?_**

 ** _Amethyst: SHUT UP CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER IN THE ATLANTIC BYE!_**

 ** _Francis: *Slowly sidestepping away*_**

 ** _Amethyst: GET BACK HERE! *Punts Francis*_**

 ** _Francis: I WILL RETURN! *Gone*_**

 ** _Amethyst: That's what they all say!_**

 ** _Kiku: So...that happened._**

 ** _Tino: Favorite, follow, and review everyone! See you all next time!_**


	17. Getting started

_**So after those two ridiculously long chapters, heres the awkward super short transition chapter that I couldn't figure out how to plug into anything else so it'll just be hanging around here as buffer in between Emil's personal hell and Arthur's personal hell! YAY!**_

* * *

 ** _The Sanctuary._**

After Lukas had cast out runes to create his wings and gone fluttering out of the cavern, the rest of the group had been left to stand around idly, not sure of how to react after that catastrophe. Soon enough, though another emergence of screams snapped them from the stupor.

The Fallen Angel twins came flying into the room, quite literally, with a tiny form dangling beneath them.

Setting down this newest recruit, Alfred waved to everyone.  
"Hey guys! We found someone!" He exclaimed excitedly.

Arthur sighed, he'd have to worry about Emil and Lukas later.

"Good job, you two."

Arthur turned to the small myth creature.  
"A pleasure to meet you. I'm Arthur. Welcome."

Massive, round purple eyes gazed straight past Arthur, at Roderich, who stood a ways away, chatting with the werewolves.

"BIG BROTHER!"

The deafening cry split the air, the child went sprinting towards the Son of Apollo.

Roderich let out a surprised yell when a pair of arms wrapped, vise like, around his stomach.

Roderich contorted his neck in such a way that he was able to see who was hugging him.  
"K-Kaiser! It's you!"

Now the older was all to happy to return the embrace.

"I looked everywhere for you!" Roderich exclaimed, pulling the younger away from him slightly, if only to examine him for signs of injury and then planting a kiss to his forehead before pulling him back against his chest again.

After the reunion had mostly subsided, the Kaiser still clinging happily onto his older brothers arm, Roderich managed to recall he had to explain.  
"Kaiser and I were separated when we were first attacked once we got here. I've been searching and searching, but I couldn't find him."

"Oh!" Kaiser suddenly brightened up.  
He reached into the pocket of his overlarge black hoodie and produced the fine silver flute.

"I took care of it for you!"

Roderich look amazed.  
"My flute..."

A proud smile took over his face, as he knelt down and pushed the instrument back into Kaiser's chest.

"You keep taking care of it for me, ok? I've got my violin, so you can keep it. Use it when you need to protect yourself."

Kaiser grinned to widely his face looked ready to split.

"Thank you! It is art, and I will care for it forever!" He cried out, dancing about before twirling on his heel and flopping into the soft green grass, clutching the flute to his chest.

Meanwhile, Yao was wandering about, looking around and frowning occasionally.

Mei Mei walked up to him.

"Gege, what's wrong?"  
"I just realized. Kiku is missing."  
Mei Mei gasped.

"You're right! I thought he left with you guys, but he's gone?"

The two instantly put their noses down, attempting to sniff out their missing sibling.

They found him.

"...Kiku?" Mei Mei tried softly.

The pile of blankets in the corner of the hollow did nothing but twitch.

"Kiku, I know you are under there, aru." Yao sighed thickly, pinching his nose.

A muffled voice came back.

"You forgot about me."

Yao blinked. "What?"  
"You didn't give me a place to go."

Mei Mei shook her head. "Well, me neither! I just stayed here!"

Kiku huffed. "But you still were told to stay here by Gege before he left. He just ignored me."

Yao groaned and massaged his forehead.  
"Kiku...I'm sorry, aru. I did not mean to make you feel unwanted."

Kiku didn't appear to be moving from his pile of blankets.

"Do you just want to stay in here for a little while until you calm down?"

An affirmative grunt.

"Well alright then, aru." Yao grumbled, crossing his arms as he turned to leave the hollow again.

Mei Mei patted her childishly acting older brother on the head through the blanket armor he'd constructed.

"Sorry Kiku." She apologized in a misleadingly bright voice before skipping out behind the eldest of the dragonspawn.

Kiku continued to perform his well known 'isolation mode' temper tantrum in the corner, while the rest of his siblings acted none the wiser of the strange pile of blankets rolling around on the ground like it was having a seizure.

Arthur stared at the rolling blankets in confusion.

"Umm...is he ok?"

Yao glanced up from where he'd been casually examining his fingernails and nodded.  
"Oh, yes, of course, aru. He does that sometimes whenever he feels emotions he's not used too. He's pretty bad at dealing with emotions, so he sort of just hides in the nearest corner with some blankets around him under he calms down. I think the dark and the warmth make him feel better. It's not as bad as it could be."  
Arthur raised an eyebrow at the still rapidly rolling blanket caterpillar that was Kiku Wang.

"How could this possibly be worse."  
"He could have set himself on fire, aru. He does that when he's really, really upset. So he's only just mildly upset right now."  
Arthur gawked openly at Yao as the shorter dragonspawn looked up to him.

"What, aru? Did I say something wrong?"

Valentin was observing this entire scene from the lofty perch of a second story hollow.

This Sanctuary was really going to mean the world to a lot of lost souls. But, in order to avoid this so called 'terrible fate', it was going to take a lot more work, especially to bring together all of the myth creatures in New York.

They had a lot to do, and as the vampire stood, prepared to coast on his wings to the ground, he couldn't help but smile about it.

 _We'd better get started._

* * *

 ** _Amethyst: Because I totally didn't completely forget about Kiku existing while I was sending out groups ha ha ha ha ha..._**

 ** _Kiku: ...*Rolls himself up in a ton of blankets and starts rolling around on the floor*_**

 ** _Everyone: ...?_**

 ** _Yao: He just does that. Sorry._**

 ** _Arthur: But...why?_**

 ** _Yao: I'm not sure. I think he finds it soothing._**

 ** _Toris: He finds rolling on the floor wrapped in blankets soothing?_**

 ** _Yao: Hey, don't ask me, I raised him, but I'm not inside his head._**

 ** _Amethyst: Well that was a great discussion on Kiku's inner functions. Conclusion? He's crazy! Others to be drawn? You're all crazy! Great, now that that's over with, let's hand it over to our newly arrived sibling duo!_**

 ** _Sons of Apollo: Please favorite, follow, and review and help us continue to create art in this story!_**


	18. The dilemma of the Scottish Selkie

**_Debut chapter that I really really really wanted to write, I absolutely loved writing this part! :D Enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _Three months later._**

Bullets rained down, firing into the salt water and frothing up small waves.

"Dammit!" A flash of red hair was seen before the creature confined to the water scrambled within the tide pool, tarnished blue button up shirt swishing against the work of the tail that made up the lower half of his body. He was trapped, unable to go any deeper with solid stone and coral blocking his path.

 _Swim here all the way from damn Scotland, take weeks on the journey, finally crash in a tide pool, don't bother drying out, and here I am, on the wrong end of the saying 'shooting fish in a barrel!'_

Allistor was a selkie.

That is, a half seal, half human that shed it's skin to form legs once on land.

The molten lead hailstorm halted for a moment, and Allistor planted himself up against the wall of the tide pool.

 _It takes a good few minutes for me to dry out, and another few minutes after that for me to get my land legs. There's no way I could buy enough time to run for it. The only way out of this tide pool is to jump the barrier, but that would make me a sitting duck to shoot down while in the air. Dammit!_

For lack of a better plan, the man remained frozen against the wall, breathing hard. By breathing, he was actually taking in water with his mouth and exhaling it through the gills on the sides of his neck.

Suddenly, he heard screaming erupt from above the water.

"What..." He whispered to himself.

Gritting his teeth, he figured that some others must have been caught up in the stand off.

As the world above the waves fell silent, Allistor remained still as stone.

Finally, taking the risk, he gave a small stroke of his brown seals tail to poke his head above water, in order to hear more clearly.

"Where is the myth creature? I don't see anyone around!"

Allistor winced, so another group had beat out the first one to catch him?

"I'll search from the sky."

His heart leapt into his throat at the sight of what looked like a human with bat wings, who took off and started to circle above the pool.

"Hey! In the water! Someone's in the water!"

The flying creature pointed at him.

Faced with the sudden exposure, Allistor dove, dropping down twenty feet to the bottom of the pool.

 _Who're these folks? Wings? What the hell is going on here?_

A disturbance in the water caught his attention, and he looked up to see a tanned girl in a sundress diving gracefully into the blue, coming towards him. She swam very slowly, almost as if she was letting her weight cause her to sink towards the bottom.

It had been close to twenty seconds, and she still wasn't going up for air.  
 _Is she crazy? She'll drown!_

Allistor snapped his tail and seized the girl by the arm, prepared to hurl her from the ocean and back to shore.

His hand had just closed around her bicep when he realized what was under that sundress.

A tail, with shimmering, gorgeous, fine finning that had a translucent appearance, causing it to shimmer hues of purple and blue. They spun around her tail down from about halfway, where her knees would be should she have been human.

But she wasn't.

The scotsman was floored, to say the least.

"W-What are you?"

He demanded of her, his voice bubbly within the water. Although it was clear this girl had ears attuned to understanding sounds beneath the surface.

She giggled lightly.

"I could ask you the same thing."

Allistor scowled, releasing her arm.  
"I asked you first." He shot back.

The girl only giggled again. "I'm Michelle."

She offered her hand.

The selkie raised an eyebrow. "Not what I meant, but fine. Allistor."

He accepted the handshake.

"Now that's done. What are you?" He repeated himself firmly.

Michelle smiled brightly. "A mermaid. How about yourself?"  
Allistor scoffed. "I should be telling you why?"

The islander rolled her eyes. "If I had to guess from what the tome said, you're...that's a seal tail right? And you have whiskers."

"Do not!" Allistor barked, scratching at his cheek, where there were several visible whisker strands.

No matter how many times he plucked them out, they always grew back. They were painful to pull out, so he just left them, but he wasn't accepting having whiskers that easily.

"Don't be embarrassed, they look adorable!"

The scotsman's face turned as red as his hair.

"W-What the..!? AM NOT!" He roared in confusion.

"You're a selkie, aren't you?" The girl hit the nail on the head.

Allistor crossed his arms over his tattered blue shirt.  
"Maybe." He grumbled crossly.

Michelle snickered again.

"Ok, well, c'mon, lets..."

She was cut off from what she was saying, and Allistor furrowed his brow.  
"Let's what?" He asked curtly.  
"Go! Jump now!" Michelle seized the older by the hand and dragged him towards the surface. Allistor got the message of danger pretty clearly, but he didn't have to do anything other then get hauled along as Michelle's powerful, streamlined tail sent them rocketing from the tide pool, out over the wall, and into the freedom of the massive ocean beyond.

Not an instant after they hit the water, an explosion rocked the tide pool, the ages old coral and rock crumbling.

"What the hell was that?" Allistor demanded loudly as Michelle stopped, gasping in lungfuls of, well, water, quickly and unevenly.

"I sensed a disturbance in the water, and I didn't know what was gonna happen. But we had to move. Thats all."

Allistor stared at the destruction that had been caused.

It would have killed him for sure, there would have been no way for him to escape without Michelle having pulled him along with her in advance.

 _Dammit. My life is in this girls debt now._

He thought in frustration before snapping his head to the side to look at her.  
"You can let go of my hand now. Unless there are more blasted explosions you need to drag me away from."

Michelle yelped, releasing the mans hand and blushing.  
"Sorry! Sorry! I was just stunned! Sorry!"

Allistor gave her a vaguely apologetic look.  
"No need to freak out, lass."

"Sorry!"

Allistor could only sigh to this.

Michelle then pointed up.  
"My friends are up there. We should probably let them know we're ok."

Allistor was ready to tell her to go on ahead, and that he was done with this bull and heading off again.

But then he remembered she'd saved his life.

 _Shit._

The selkie followed along with the mermaid, and the two of them broke the surface.

"Vali! Down here!"

"Michelle!" The bat winged person from earlier swooped down towards them.  
"There you are! And you saved the myth creature we were looking for!"

Michelle blushed again. "N-Not really, I just felt something bad coming..."

She mumbled shyly.

Rolling his eyes, Allistor looked up.  
"So what're you. Vampire?" He meant it to be a tease.  
"Ja. Why?"

Ok.

He hadn't expected _that_ answer.

When he'd left from Scotland, this sure as hell was _not_ what Allistor had been trying to get into. All he wanted was a place where he could sleep, smoke, and relax all alone. No one else to worry about meant no one else to hold him down.

So why was he following Michelle to the underwater tunnel to the so called Sanctuary anyway?

Why was he already planning on agreeing to stay?

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: HE'S HERE HE'S HERE!**_

 _ **Allistor: Oh lord save me.**_

 _ **Amethyst: *Tackle hug* BUT I LOVE YOU!**_

 ** _Allistor: GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!_**

 ** _Everyone: Nah._**

 ** _Allistor: Hey! Hey look! Look it's the finnish guy! That one you love so much more then you love me! Look, dammit!_**

 ** _Amethyst: Tino's in here?_**

 ** _Tino: ...I've been here for a while..._**

 ** _Amethyst: AND I HAVEN'T TACKLE HUGGED YOU YET!?_**

 ** _Tino: Oh no._**

 ** _Amethyst: OH YES! *Tackle hugs Tino*_**

 ** _Allistor: Phew... *Gets up and brushes pants legs off*_**

 ** _Arthur: You...seem familiar._**

 ** _Allistor: How? Never seen you before in my life. But...well maybe a little bit familiar...I might have seen you somewhere...but where?_**

 ** _Kiku: This could be in a reference to your cannon characters, which indicates that you would be brothers, so therefore..._**

 ** _Amethyst: KIKU..._**

 ** _Kiku: I'M GOING TO NONEXISTENT ROOM NOW! I'M GOING! DON'T KICK ME PLEASE!_**

 ** _Amethyst: Hmph. *Resumes Tino cuddling*_**

 ** _Tino: Save me!_**

 ** _Everyone: Nah._**

 ** _Tino: Why is that a thing!?_**

 ** _Wisteria: Well that happened, then. Favorite, follow, and review! Thank you all for helping out Sanctuary grow!_**


	19. So perfect, he makes the flowers bloom

**_Several weeks later._**

A shadow passed before the moon, barely visible before it vanished from sight.

"Emil! Slow down! AHHH!" Michelle crushed Li Xiang around the stomach, arms locked around him to avoid falling, Li Xiang, in turn, clutched at the red and blue ribbon around the tigers neck.

They landed and white smoke enveloped the form beneath them, fading out.

"Maybe I was going a bit far." Emil commented wryly as they crept towards edge of the roof.

Michelle panted heavily, grasping at her heart beneath the light blue ruffled sundress.

Li Xiang swiftly smacked Emil in the back of the head.

"You were trying to scare us again, jerk."

Emil shrugged, "I'm not gonna apologize for it. Guilty as charged."

Alfred suddenly came plummeting out of the sky, landing noisily on the roof with a loud shout of.  
"Dang it! You guys beat us!"

As he dropped a petrified looking Ravis to the cement of the top of the building. The poor werewolf had obviously been along for some turbulence on the flight. Matthew joined them shortly thereafter, for it was a known fact that the Fallen Angel twins rarely separated. Once the overly loud voice of the bomber jacket wearing teen echoed out, you knew for a fact that a soft spoken fallen with a several swirled curl wasn't far behind.

They even shared a hollow in the Sanctuary, one with bunk beds, conveniently enough.

Rolling his eyes, Li Xiang stalked over to the edge of the roof.  
"This looks like it'll get out of hand really quick." He commented.

"What do you mean?" Michelle asked, making her way to the rooftop.

Glancing down, they were met with the front of a flower shop.

It was a quaint place, with bouquets of roses in the windows, pretty displays of different blossoms fully bloomed were everywhere within the windows they could see.

The issue was that several sleek black cars were parked out front, and men wearing body armor under black dry fit clothes, with helmets and visors, were emerging.

With weapons.

 _Big_ weapons.

Over the past months, the myth creatures had come into contact with these masked goons multiple times. So far they hadn't lost a recruit to them yet. But it had been close several times.

They'd recruited a pair of demon brothers, who claimed they weren't in 'direct' relation to Satan, but were actually descendants of something called a 'Risen Demon.' As Gilbert had explained way to enthusiastically, it was when a demon had morals so high that they chose to relinquish their immortality in exchange for the ability to gain access to heaven as a mortal upon death. They kept their hellish, supernatural powers, but they forfeited eternal life, and the physical strength and appearance of a demon.

Ludwig had told them in a much calmer tone that the demon they were related to had fallen in love with a human girl, and had decided to rise from hell in order to be with her for her mortal life. According to the stories from their grandfather, they'd married, had children, lived happily together and when they'd passed away, they'd both gained access to heaven.

Among others, they'd also brought in a Basty, a turk by the name of Sadik who was constantly drifting in between a swirling, smoke like form and his physical form. He could also hide inside peoples heads, within their dreams. It was well remembered, the one time he'd snuck inside the head of a constantly sleepy werecat greek, Hercules, and stayed there for a solid two days.

He'd filled Hercules's dreams with images of him, and now the poor cat boy claimed that 'whenever I close my eyes, I see so many Sadik's I get scared...' Which could then result in Sadik laughing his head off and Hercules trying to maul him with sharp, retractable claws hidden in his forearms and the tops of his feet.

A duo of brother and sister of dutch origins had also come to them. They were reapers, able to draw their scythes from thin air and vanquish soul collectors of the afterlife. In this way, they could bring people back from the dead, provided they reached the corpse of the victim before the soul was completely stolen away.

Dozens more had joined their little band of the magic and mythic underground, filling the hollows with laughter, the underwater dwellings now housed, along with Michelle, the scottish selkie named Allistor had joined them permanently. He did nothing but laze about in the water, complain, and smoke. They'd forced him into recruiting before, but no one could convince him save the islander who'd once saved his life. If she asked, he'd go, scuffing his boots on the ground and grumbling, but going to do the job all the same. Along with them, the water was also occupied with two mimi's by the names of Jett and Toby, who had been swimming around aimlessly after being evicted from their home in Australia. For years now they'd wandered in search of a place to call home.

Furthermore, these masked men had been a serious problem, they'd had to fight with them multiple times. So far, their goal had yet to be discovered, but then again, it wasn't like any of the myth creatures ever stuck around to ask about it.

Ravis crawled to the edge of the roof and looked down.  
"Wow. That's a lot of them. Not as many as when we found Sadik though."

Ravis winced at the recollection of how the men had been trying to use some sort of vacuum cleaner to suck up the semi-mist formed creature.

Emil sighed. "Let's get in, get the myth creature, and get out. Ok?"

Michelle swallowed. "Sorry I'm not of much use this time, guys." She mumbled.

Sure enough, she wasn't, there wasn't any water nearby she could control, and they certainly weren't going to need to make an aquatic exit in the middle of the city.

Ravis gave her a small, comforting smile.  
"No worries. We all have strengths and weaknesses. You've always been so much help with the water bound creatures, helping them find their way to safety when they couldn't change to legs quickly. Allistor would've died if it weren't for you pulling him out over that tide pool wall."

Michelle smiled brightly at him.

"Thanks, Ravis. That makes me feel better." She meant it.

Li Xiang rolled his eyes again. "Great, now, if you wouldn't mind, I'd love to get down there and kick some ass, ok?"

Emil groaned, "Plan first, kicking of ass later."

Li Xiang whined, but relented.

"Fine. What do you have in mind, cat boy?"

 ** _Within the flower shop._**

Francis was seated behind the counter of his shop.

Not technically his. He worked here, but the owner was an elderly woman who didn't stay very late. He worked into the night to prepare the shop for the morning, in exchange she paid him what she could, and accepted him. Treated him like the son she never had. He appreciated this more then words could ever express.

She didn't know what he was, of course.

How could the frenchman ever bear to tell her?

That he was a life sprite? That the reason her shop suddenly had only fresh, vibrant blossoms was because flowers always bloomed and trees began to bear fruit in his wake?

He jumped at the sound of a warning shot from outside.

"We know you're in there, freak! You can give up on using any magic to get outta this! Surrender, now!" One of the soldiers barked.

Francis curled into himself, his knees were pulled up to his chest, and he clutched at his long, fine blonde hair, tied back with a red ribbon.

He sat in the darkness, with panic quickly rising in his chest.

How had they found him again? Had they really chased him all the way from Paris? From London, through Germany, across France and into Spain, then back to Paris, and now New York? How far away did he have to run before he was safe from them?

"If you don't come out, we come in!"

Francis swallowed hard, exiting was a death sentence, and they likely had the back door covered.

That was when he heard some sort of commotion from outside, risking a peak over the edge of the countertop, what he saw made his eyes go wide.

The soldier's head snapped in the direction of a kid wearing a red hoodie, a gray knit beanie, and jeans with sneakers, he looked up to them with seemingly no fear. He was short, with lightish brown hair and large, youthful eyes. The tips of his light brown hair spiked up from the front of his beanie.

"W-Why are you here? Y-You're gonna wake up the entire neighborhood." He demanded this of the man with a strange stutter.

"Kid, get out of here, this is a dangerous place! There's a wild animal on the loose, we're here to detain it."

Francis gritted his teeth.

Call him what you may, but he was no animal. He was a person.

Yet these soldiers found that impossible to believe.

"Animal?"

The kids voice had stopped what seemed like a permanent stutter.

Francis's eyes widened at the feral look that took over the boys face.

"If there is an animal in there, then there's another one right in front of you. And if I were you, I'd be more worried about a potential wolf attack then anything that could be hiding in that shop."

He turned his face to the night sky and howled, loudly, far louder then any sound any could image that small, thin body could produce. The frenchman's body was instantly wracked by chills.

Francis felt the breath leave him.

A white tiger came galloping up the street, and another male in oriental dress leapt from his back and started roaring fire from his mouth, lighting the vehicles the men had ridden in there aflame.

Francis was made to wonder that perhaps god didn't have it in for him after all, for two who looked suspiciously like angels had started dive bombing from the sky.

The werewolf, for that was what Francis assumed him to be from his howl, and now the way he was bounding about using both his hands and feet, came barreling towards the shop.

He ripped open the door, calling inside.

"Are you there? Come out! We're here to help you!"

Francis didn't hesitant to stand.

"Quoi? Who are you? Why are you here?" He demanded.

The werewolf sprinted up to him, seizing the sleeve of his pinstriped, white and red shirt, atop which he wore a black vest, with dress pants.

"W-We came to help!"

Francis vaguely managed to note that the stutter had made it's return.

Ravis pulled him towards the door.

"Are you crazy? I'm not going out there! I might be different, but I can't fight like you! I have no powers like you! I've got nothing but my fists!" He cried out, pulling weakly against Ravis's surprisingly powerful grip.

Ignoring him completely, Ravis thrust Francis out the door.

"Alfred, take him! Go! Go! Go!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Going up!" Francis didn't know what was happening, but he heard a rush of wind behind him, and the next thing he knew, arms were wrapped around his chest, and his feet left the ground.

He went hurtling straight up, the pavement dropping away from beneath his feet, and out of shock he started screaming.

"Relax, bro! I got you!" A cheery voice burst out into his ear.

"W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Francis shrieked, struggling not to try and escape his grasp.

After all, it was a long way down.

Alfred landed Francis on the roof of a building several streets away.

"Listen, man. Please just stay here, I gotta go back and help the others! We'll meet you here, if something goes wrong, I'll send someone ahead to take you to the Sanctuary."

Francis seized him by the jacket tail before he could take off.

"Why? Why are you helping me?"

He sounded breathless and exhausted, even though he hadn't done anything.

Alfred turned to him and gave him the most dazzling grin possible.

"Because, we're brothers! You're different! Which means that you and I are the same! I won't let them hurt you, especially if you can't fight back."

Francis was so surprised he released his death grip on the back of the fallen's jacket.

The same? He'd never once heard someone say that they were the same as the life sprite.

Alfred gave him a two fingers salute as he ran backwards towards the edge of the roof.

"See you soon, bro!" He shouted before spinning and leaping from the roof.

He plummeted from sight, Francis rushed towards the place where he'd vanished.

He let out a involuntary gasp at the sight of Alfred shooting back upwards, angling off and heading towards what was quickly becoming a miniature battlefield.

"...sacré bleu..." He murmured as he fell onto his knees, beyond stunned.

An eternity's worth of ten minutes later, the blonde saw silhouettes that were moving at a great speed towards him.

"Grab him, we've got to get back!" Li Xiang cried out, his voice cracked with panic.

In his arms, while he rode on Emil's back, was Michelle, her dress rapidly staining a stomach turning scarlet.

Francis jumped towards them in an instant.

"What happened? How?" He demanded.

Li Xiang sniffed, trying to hide how he was tearing up at his dear friends injury.

"She's a mermaid, she can't do much on land. But one of those guys had Ravis in their sights and she jumped down to push him out of the way. She was clipped with the shot! She's losing blood fast, hurry up and, like, get on! We've gotta get her home."

"Non! I will not! Let me see, I can help her!" Francis insisted, planting his foot.

Li Xiang nearly growled, but held back.

"You're risking her life, you..." He began to speak, but Emil shape changed back before he could let loose any choice words.

Emil pried Michelle from the young dragon spawns grasp.  
"He sounds serious. Let him look."

"Emil! What are you..."

Emil silenced him with a severe glare.

"His aura, I see it. It's kind, and soft. It's not like anything I've ever seen before, almost like he doesn't have it in him to harm an ant. Like he can't do anything other then help."

Francis frowned. "That wouldn't be accurate, but we're wasting time! Lay her down, quickly."

Francis ordered, gestured to the cement ground.

Blood was staining the sky blue dress, as Francis extended his hands moved them above the girl.

"Major laceration...that's a bullet wound. Several minor scraps. A broken ankle from jumping off of the roof...ahhh...there we have it."

He murmured all of this, almost to himself, as warmth leeched from his fingertips, red, white, and blue light seeped out of his hands, wrapping around the girls prone form.

Francis scowled, focusing.

He had to find that one moment where his magic was the most receptive.

"One...two...three...now!" He pushed his hands forcefully down upon her body, one on her stomach, the other upon her collarbone.

Michelle took in a deep draught of air, her eyes flying open.

"Michelle!" Li Xiang exclaimed as the myth creatures surrounded her, Francis still knelt by her side, as Ravis helped her sit up, Li Xiang lightly grasped at her arm, and Emil planted his hand on her shoulder. The light swirled like a whirlpool over her wound, and it zipped closed, not even leaving behind a scar.

"Oh...my...what happened? Wait! Where's Ravis?" She whipped back and forth, her ponytails snapping from side to side.

"Non, non, non, mon petite fille." Francis halted her movements.

Michelle looked over to him.

"Do not move so much, you will cause yourself pain. You will be ok now. All you need is to relax just a little bit. No sudden movements for a few hours, d'accord?"

Michelle mumbled a quiet 'oui' even as she looked around again, albeit more slow with her movements.

"Where is he?"

Ravis poked his head around from where he was supporting the girl from behind. "I-I'm here. I'm o-okay. You p-pushed me out of the w-way."

"Thank god!" She threw her arms around him.

Ravis yelped but returned the embrace.

"I thought you were gonna die! That's why I came down there so fast! I couldn't stand to let you get hurt!"

Ravis's face was beet red and the rest of the boys were looking at him smugly.

"Well maybe we should head back I mean the others are waiting on us and I'm sure Lukas and Yao and everyone are worried about Emil and Li Xiang and you know I'll bet Feliks is starting to panic already so is Arthur as a matter of fact lets just go, ok? Yeah, let's go."

He rattled all of this off before standing up, Michelle releasing him, and making his way over to Alfred.

Alfred grinned at him.

"You sure you don't wanna ride with mer-girl over there?"

Ravis growled up at the taller.

"Let's go!" He cried.

Alfred laughed again and wrapped an arm around the werewolf.

"You got it! Race you guys!"

Alfred shouted as he took off, arms wrapped around Ravis, Matthew right behind him.

Francis looked back to the group he'd been left with.

Emil sighed heavily. "Now I have to carry three people? Ugh. Fine, get on." He complained even as he shifted forms into the tiger.

Francis awkwardly clambered onto his back.

Li Xiang looked back to him.

"Sorry...about being so rude and jumping to conclusions like that."

He murmured softly, Michelle seated behind him, between him and Francis.

Francis shook his head. "You were worried for the life of a dear friend. I understand."

Li Xiang nodded and Michelle hugged him from behind, while at the same time looking to Francis. "You should hold on around my waist."

Francis did just this, and Emil took off.

The frenchman was screaming, Li Xiang was yelling at the faye for trying to throw them off, and Michelle was laughing like a maniac.

Soon enough they arrived at the forest.

Little did Francis know how quickly the place would become home.

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: ACTUAL ACTION! FIGHTING! SASSY RAVIS!**_

 _ **Ravis: Sassy?**_

 _ **Amethyst: SASSY WEREWOLF!**_

 _ **Ravis: ...what?**_

 _ **Amethyst: Can we make that a thing? Sassy Werewolf? Please? PLEASE?**_

 _ **Peter: *Looks up at chapter* Wait...wouldn't those cars have exploded if Li Xiang set them on fire? I mean, once the flames reached the fuel tank...**_

 _ **Amethyst: *Des Spongebob hand wave* It's all "convenience of plot" and it's because I'm to lazy to write another chapter about them having to save peoples who's homes and businesses they set on fire. *Words 'convenience of plot' appear in a rainbow above Amethyst's head***_

 _ **Peter: *Blinks* ...where did the rainbow come from?**_

 _ **Amethyst: *Hits Peter with water balloon***_

 _ **Peter: *Grows tail and falls down* OY! NO FAIR! THAT'S PLAYING DIRTY, BUTTHEAD!  
**_

 _ **Amethyst: What did you just call me, brat?**_

 _ **Peter: NOTHING! *Rolls away***_

 _ **Tino: That was a bit harsh, Amethyst.**_

 _ **Amethyst: *Sighs* Yeah, sorry. I'm kinda tense. I'm writing a part of the story now that is really important in the foreshadowing of the plot. So if I don't get it JUST right it'll be a total bomb out.**_

 ** _Tino: I'm sure it'll turn out wonderfully! We all have faith in you!_**

 ** _Amethyst: ...Tino I knew there was a reason why I loved you..._**

 ** _Tino: ?_**

 ** _Amethyst: Can you do the thing please?_**

 ** _Tino: What? Oh, yeah, sure! Hello readers, everyone please favorite, follow, and review! We really appreciate the continued support! Just for reading this, you're all automatically on the nice list this year! Bye!_**


	20. The French Frog and the Black Sheep

**_Who missed the Francis/Arthur loving bickering? Who? Who? Raise your hands out there! HEY! YOU! ABIGAIL! I SEE YOU NOT RAISING YOUR HAND! I KNOW YOU SHIP ALL THAT FRUK GIRL! GET IT UP THERE!_**

 ** _:D (Any of our readers who are named Abigail I love you thank you for supporting my work, hugs to you!)_**

 ** _Anywho, please enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _In the Sanctuary._**

"Care to explain to me why you kissed the wall?" Francis questioned.

"Shut up! It's the only way to get in!" Li Xiang replied haughtily.

The instant he entered he got waist tackled by Kaiser.

"I LEARNED A NEW SONG IT IS ART SO MUCH ART I MUST SHOW YOU ALL THE ART I HAVE NOW LEARNED TO CREATE!" He shouted out at the top of his lungs.

Li Xiang sighed and patted him on the head. "That's great, kid. I'll listen to it later, ok?"

Kaiser nodded excitedly, then turned to Emil and Michelle.

"Can you guys come to? I really wanna show you!" He pleaded.

Emil crossed his arms. "As long as you don't hypnotize us on accident again."

Kaiser pouted. "That was one time!" He exclaimed.

"You made everyone who was listening to you think they were sheep for three hours." Michelle kindly pointed out.

"I said I was sorry!"

Roderich walked up behind him and gave them an apologetic smile before ushering his unmanageable little brother away with promises that he could show everyone his new song later, and to go play with the kids.

Francis was allowed to see the place that all myth creatures dreamed of.

The air was filled with floating creatures. Among which was Sadik, the turkish basty, reclining comfortably in the sky in his semi smoke form, his outline visible with his white mask and green overcoat.

Alfred had already arrived and was now performing some aerial acrobatics, while Matthew watched worriedly. There was a gaping opening towards the middle of the east side of the cavern floor, out of which poked several heads. Allistor was snoring, having fallen asleep leaning back against the rocks, while Jett and Toby, the two mimi's, were seated on the edges of the pool, feet dangling into the water.

They had slightly elongated arms and legs, though not enough to look disproportionate.

It was enough to look pretty strange, considering that their wingspan from fingertip to fingertip was over four inches longer then they were tall, and that their legs made up about three inches more of height then it would on a normal human being

Toby had cinnamon roll hair that somehow retained it's strange twirled up shape even while he was soaking wet, and was the younger of the duo. His cut off black shorts did nothing to hide the shimmering silver scales that covered his legs entirely. Jett had wind swept brown hair, a bandage right across the bridge of his nose, and his legs were covered with dark blue scales.

As he looked around, Francis realized that there were small pools of water everywhere, dotting the ground. Perhaps there were underwater tunnels from pool to pool, to allow the water bound creatures to move about? If so, then did more finned, scaled people swim just beneath his feet?

Francis turned his attention towards the grasses, where a group of children, who'd been joined by Kaiser, were playing. One girl let out a sharp gasp as, in a crack, another much taller boy teleported behind her.

"I've got you now, Wisty!" He made to hug her from behind.

"No you don't!" Her legs morphed into the trunk of a tree and sent the rest of her, which remained in humanoid form, growing rapidly upwards.

Undeterred the boy vanished in another flash of green.

"GUYS! I wanna play! Help me dry off!" A whiny voice called out.

A boy with blonde hair popped up from another smaller pool, waving to the other children. He was wearing a white sailor shirt with a blue cape back, it was throughly soaked as well. He didn't have a matching hat, but he did have a blue ribbon tied around his head like a bandana.

Another boy with a strange scar across his nose walked over and stuck his tongue out.

"You're a pain to get dry, fish boy! A waste of my energy! Can't you drag yourself onto dry land, Peter?"

Peter huffed. "My tail is too heavy! It's a lot harder then you think! Just help me get out!"

Peter reached his hand out to be pulled free of the water.

The red head snickered, spinning on his heel and turning his back.

"Nah!"

"LARS!" Wisteria shouted out to him from where she was now weaving her quickly expanding trunk around to avoid a certain teleporter who kept trying to grab her.

"Ugh, fine!" Lars turned around and grabbed Peter by the hand, pulling backwards to get him out of the water. After a small wrestle with gravity, Peter was free from the salt of the ocean water that filled the tunnels and pools in the cavern, all the way out to the deep blue beyond.

He flopped onto the grass, a long, large fish tail emerged, shedding water from it's glistening scales. The scales were strange within themselves, the top half angled downward in red, with a thinner stripe of white circling from where his knees would be down diagonally. The bottom part of him, along with his dorsal fin, was black. Lars scoffed before he waved a hand nonchalantly. Orange and sky blue runes spiraled out of his fingers.

"Blow dry, coming up." He ordered.

Peter was instantly enveloped in a miniature tornado. The boy spun like a top, screaming his head off.

When the tornado cleared up, Peter was seated with a pair of legs clad in knee high socks, black loafers, and blue shorts, eyes twirling dizzily.

He shook his head several times to free himself of the spirals in his eyes.

"Thanks!" Peter jumped up, and instantly his knees gave out and tumbled on top of Lars.

"UM, OW!" Lars was not very happy.

Wisteria came growing over, literally, seeing as she was still attached to the ground by the trunk that was her legs. Romeo had somehow wound up attempting to climb the tree she'd transformed into, and was now dangling from one of the branches protruding out from a few feet beneath Wisteria's hips by the knees, arms flailing in the air.

"Peter, be more careful. Michelle explained to you that you can't get up and run the instant you form legs! You're the same as her, so listen to her advice more."

Peter grumbled as his breath as he shakily got to his feet, knees knocking against each other.

"Fine, fine." He reached up and took the nature sprites hand, allowing her to support him as he got his land legs underneath him properly.

Francis was majorly impressed by this display.

"But...but...they are children. Yet they are so comfortable with what they are."

Michelle smiled brightly.

"We all pitch in to take care of them. We want to teach them that there is no shame in what they are. They have powerful gifts, and they should be proud of them. We all should be."

Francis nodded. He only wished he had an outlook like she did.

Gazing across the grassy area, he spotted a boy in turquoise lazing on a sloping hill that took up the farther part of the ground, he appeared to be sleeping. A hulking man in dark blue with a gold trim was standing over him.

"Tino." He grunted.

No reply.

"TINO!" He shouted louder.

"EEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!"

The blonde who'd been sleeping, threw a hand up, a burst of blue and white enveloping his hand and a silvery, polished pistol appeared, he pointed it up at the person who'd yelled at him.

"W-What!?"

The taller boy knocked the pistol casually side, as if this was thing that normally happened.

"Wanna go out f'er a bit?" He suggested.

Tino took several deep gasping breaths before he banished his gun.

"Sure! You could have woken me up nicer, though!"

"M'sorry."

"No prob, Sve!"

As the duo made their way towards the tunnel, Francis turned back to his own company.

"So...do you have some sort of leader?"

Emil shrugged. "If anyone, I suppose it's Arthur."

Francis furrowed his brow.  
"Ar...thur?" He repeated brokenly, all the while forcing himself to remember it was a common name, and not to get excited.

Li Xiang snorted. "That freaking stuck up? As if."

Michelle waved a finger at him.  
"Arthur was the one who helped organize all of this. Not to mention Valentin, who truly kicked this all off, certainly can't be our leader. Or at least, not in this respect. He can't even go outside most days for more then a few hours! I mean look around, he's not even out right now with everyone else. He has to sleep at least a few hours every day otherwise he'd never be able to survive on just the little bit of sleep he gets at night."

Francis sighed heavily.

 _It is not the same Arthur. That Arthur you made a promise to meet again outside the labs is probably still back in Europe somewhere._

Francis had been taken away from his family as a child and placed into a lab in England. There he'd met his first true friend. Arthur and himself had bickered and fought almost constantly, but beneath it all they cared deeply for each other. Then had come the day that Arthur's wings had grown in fully. He could carry his own weight. But not the weight of another who was equal to him in mass and exceeded him in height.

That was the first and only time he'd seen Arthur cry, even if it had only been tears of frustration. The winged boy had exclaimed that he would wait longer. He'd survived for so long in the lab, he could take another year or two until he was strong enough to carry both Francis and himself.

Francis had shut down this option immediately. The longer Arthur stayed, the longer he risked them realizing he could fly properly, or catching him practicing in the corner of the yard. Then they might do something horrible. Clip his wings, or worse, cut them clean off and force Arthur to have to regrow them all over again.

The very thought of his friend going through that much pain, risking that agony for the frenchman, had caused Francis to make a promise with Arthur. A solemn oath that they would meet again outside the confines of these cell bars and concrete walls.

It was four years ago that he'd watched from the ground as Arthur soared up into the clouds, even when the guards shouted to him to come back down, and shot nets and guns, he'd evaded it all and sailed away until he vanished into the blue beyond. Four years ago he'd screamed up at him to go faster, higher, warned him of oncoming nets, and out of it all he'd cried out to Arthur to go as far away as he could. He kept on calling out to him even as one of the guards started trying to drag him inside, twisting his arm behind him. He'd watched with wide, watery blue eyes as his friend flew higher and higher until he was nothing but a speck up in the sky.

Like an angel.

Francis had cried that night, in the cell alone, instead of with Arthur, his only friend, his best friend, by his side to tell him to stop being an overdramatic idiot.

"Francis...you ok?" Michelle caught his attention.

Francis shook his head several times, blinking to clear up the mist that had gathered to blur his gaze.  
"Eh? Oh, oui. I am quite fine. Just had my mind wander off on me, that is all." He insisted.

A weariness did pull at his limbs though, and against his will he yawned.

Michelle smiled. "Well, we can get you into a hollow to rest if you'd like. You saved my life, that must have taken some toll."

Anything to get his mind off of that familiar name.  
"That would be appreciated."

 ** _Four AM._**

Francis poked his head out from behind the curtains.

He felt restless, and had decided he'd wander around on the grasses a bit.

Bracing himself against the waist high wall of the hollow, he climbed out onto the ladder and, rung by stone rung, he made his way to the earth. He'd been placed in a third floor hollow, since most of the second floor ones had been taken by now.

Making his way out onto the lawn, he looked around at the bobbing strings of runes that glowed softly, just enough light to see by, but nothing close to the brightness they displayed during the day.

Francis settled down on the edge of the fountain, gazing off into nothing.

 _How is Arthur doing, I wonder?_

The mention of the name from earlier was still gnawing at him.

 _Perhaps he forgot about the promise we made? No, that doesn't seem like him. He'd not do something like that, even if it was me who initiated the idea. I think if we were to meet again, we would be able to pick up where it was we left off. Tell him off for not shaving those caterpillars above his eyes. He'd reply with something ridiculous, like asking when I managed to escape the jerk store. He'd start calling me the french frog. I'll start calling him the black sheep. Perhaps we'll managed to have a heart to heart at some point, when I'll be able to admit how worried I was about him._

He was interrupted from his thoughts when, with a soft grind of rings across a support pole, a curtain of a hollow at the very top of the cavern opened.

Someone stepped up and jumped out without hesitation.

Jet black wings spread wide as the person came winding down like a leaf that had just been cast from a tree branch.

He landed a ways away, apparently having not noticed Francis yet.

It didn't take long though, as the winged creature lifted his head and started to walk towards the fountain.

They locked eyes, and it humiliated Francis that it took him a moment to realize who it was that stood before him.

Arthur looked equally shocked, emerald eyes wide, and he took a tentative step forward.  
"Erm...are you new?"

Francis stood up, a tearful smirk on his face.  
"Don't act like you don't recognize me, black sheep."

Suspicions confirmed, Arthur stormed forward.  
"Dammit, you french frog! You should know well I went back to the lab once I could carry another person to get you out and like the son of a bitch you are you went and escaped already! I looked all over England for your sorry ass!"

Francis laughed richly. "Oh hon hon hon...such language to a dear old friend? I'm offended!"

"Shut up!" Arthur barked.

Francis replied to this by hugging him.

"I thought I would never see you again." He spoke plainly.

Arthur scoffed into his ear before returning the taller's embrace.

"I don't break my promises, you moron. You should know that."

Francis laughed again, softly.

"Perhaps I do, but it's a bit hard to keep up belief when I had to go fleeing across an ocean."

Arthur pushed back from him, but there was affection in the release.  
"You say that, and yet I'll bet you thought about it everyday."

Francis put his palms up in an uncaring gesture.

"What if I did? Did you, black sheep?"

"Don't call me that."

"Don't call me a french frog."

"Never gonna happen."

"Then we're even, black sheep."

Arthur groaned again. "I forgot how annoying you are."

The frenchman grinned.

"I missed you too."

"What!? That is not what I was implying!"  
"Despite four years of my absence, you haven't changed at all, you strange, twisted little creature. You must be so lonely."

"Oy! Where the hell did that come from!?"

They settled down onto the edge of the fountain, and it was just like on that bench in the corner of the labs yard, except so much better because they were wearing clean, colorful clothes instead of drab itchy uniforms. They weren't discussing plans of escape around their jibes. It was simple, comfortable, familiar, and yet so many worlds away from those midday conversations under the beating sun about how one day they would run away and travel around the world together.

Their childhood dreams of world travel had been replaced with a harsh reality, but for now, within the safety given by their ancestors deep underground, the two could reminisce and catch up all they wanted.

Perhaps, they could even wind up being best friends all over again.

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: REUNIONS GLAORE!**_

 _ **Francis: I CAN TALK NOW!**_

 _ **Arthur: I'M GOING TO GO INSANE!**_

 _ **Francis: But why?**_

 _ **Arthur: Because you and Allistor are now here to destroy any semblance of peace.**_

 _ **Allistor: Have you even MET your younger brothers?**_

 _ **Arthur: Matthew is an angel...**_

 _ **Feliks: *Cough* You're all angels, like, totally literally *Cough cough***_

 _ **Arthur: ...but Alfred is nothing but trouble! Not to mention Matthew always gets roped into his schemes.**_

 _ **Francis: I think it's your genetics. You've tainted them.**_

 _ **Arthur: OY! RUDE!**_

 _ **Francis: What will you do about it?**_

 ** _Arthur: SHUT UP YOU STUPID JERK FRENCH-Y FACE!_**

 ** _Francis: IS THAT SUPPOSED TO INSULT ME!?_**

 ** _Amethyst: *Ignores wrestling in the background* Ugh. Here we go again. Favorite, follow, and review! Thanks so much!_**


	21. They who lay amongst the trash cans

**_Time to refocus on everyones favorite vampire! Please enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _Several Weeks later._**

With the addition of Francis to the Sanctuary, everyone sleep a little bit more at ease.

The young man was a life sprite. That is, a healer, a breather of life.

He could bring someone back even from the brink of death. This made it a lot less stressful whenever someone returned bleeding and bandaged. Despite having not yet lost a recruit to the labs, they were only escaping by the skin of their teeth, not to mention that they often had to circle around for hours to lose the ones pursuing them.

Valentin thought this all over as he coasted above the city under the pure dark sky.

A storm brewed darkly, the clouds blocking the moon and the stars. The vampire had needed to stretch his wings, and another set of dots had recently appeared in the tome. Two of them, to be specific, and the duo was close by. Valentin's blood red eyes glittered as the lights from the city glowed bright even under the threatening night skies. The vampire sailed to a nearby skyscraper and landed gracefully on the top.

"What did Arthur say...I think a few streets south...or was it north? And which way is south again?"

Valentin scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

Well, he was lost.

 _Oops._

Sighing heavily, he took a running start and jumping from the edge of the roof with a hoot of excitement, he felt the rush of the deadly drop below him as he spread his wings, they billowed up and caught the wind, carrying him upwards until he was soaring once more.

 _I suppose I'll just circle for a while then. Geez, Iggy is gonna kill me if I lose another recruit because I got lost._

Frowning at the thought of getting lectured, he lowered his coasting height a bit, looking down to the alleyways below. 90% of the creatures so far had been hiding in alleys or abandon buildings, so it was a safe enough bet.

He dropped down into one of the back alleys, so to avoid being spotted.

Looking around, no one else was back there.

 _Figures I wouldn't just drop right on top of them._

"Well, at least it hasn't started raining yet..." The vampire sighed.

A few drops landed in his hair at that moment, and before he knew it, a dismal shower was raining down onto his head.

Blowing at the wet ribbons from his hat, which had dropped into his face, and grumbling under his breath, Vali set himself into wandering.

 _Walking around in the rain. Of course. This is all because I didn't pay attention to the directions Lukas was talking about until after he told me to get going. Which means I just flew out here and now I have no clue where I'm going. Guess I'll just have to look for someone suspicious._

Valentin was all for the positives, but this was going to get tedious, not to mention that if he didn't reach the myth creature first, they might be captured by the labs, whom the group still hadn't discovered the name of.

It was also raining, which was never a good time.

He grew increasingly agitated as the night dragged on, rain still pouring down on him, soon enough he'd have to leave if he wanted to make it back before sunrise. Dragging his heavy black combat boots down another street, he shuffled along until something strange poking out of an alley caught his eye. This was a shady back street, but under these circumstances Vali knew he could take care of himself. He crept closer to the strange thing just barely emerging from the corner of the alley. It looked like a piece of leather. Reaching down, Valentin picked it up between two gloved fingers.

He wasn't aware it was attached to something.

But it wasn't a something that lay mingled amongst the trash bins, it was a _someone_.

Valentin let out a frantic gasp at the sight of a ghostly pale hand sticking out from behind the trash cans.

Moving quickly, he pushed aside the trash cans and took in who he'd found.

His heart just about stopped.

"A...vampire?" He breathed softly.

It could be nothing else. The young mans mouth was hanging slightly open to reveal sharp incisors, and the strange black thing Valentin had spotted was no leather, it was the tip of the injured creatures wings.

"Hey! Hey, wake up!" He shook the form of the vampire gently.

When he wasn't met with a response, he gently rolled the fellow onto his back.

The one lying on the ground was wearing a heavy green coat with a white button up underneath, and tattered looking overlarge green pants. His mussed up hair was black, with several spiked bangs hanging down into his face.

Swallowing his dread, Vali took in the scene.

It appeared the guy, who looked not older then Valentin himself, had crashed into the alley from the air, seeing as the trash cans were scattered around his form. But the destruction wrought looked a lot more then this one skinny vampire could deal out. It looked like more then one person had crashed.

After a few moments he discovered another body curled up against the wall. He was wearing a tan overcoat patched many times, over the entire coat in different colors of brown and white. The edges of the coat were frilled with brown fur, and he was wearing black pants and boots under it. A tiny black bowler hat was lying on the ground a few feet from where his head had landed. He had long light brown hair tied up into two strange strands to either side of his head, almost like animal ears.

Valentin moved over to the kid immediately. He was much younger then the other who had crashed, he was about a head and a half shorter then Valentin himself.

Although the red garbed vampire wasn't worried about that at the moment, he was more concerned about how both of them had congealed blood in their clothes and spattered on the ground.

Cursing under his breath, Valentin gently lifted the first, the one who'd been facing the wall. He coaxed the boys wings into folding against his back and cradled him in one arm. Right now, he was thanking the stars that his blood hadn't distilled so much that he had lost the enhanced strength of a full blooded vampire. After some maneuvering, he manages to settle the smaller, younger vampire onto his shoulder, eventually using his belt as means to be sure that he didn't slip off of Valentin's one arm and fall. The black haired vampire he wound up clutching around the waist. Valentin managed to lean the green coated one against his chest before he took off from the ground slowly. Once he was confident he had a good grip on them, he took off in the direction of the Sanctuary, as fast as he could without dropping his precious cargo.

 ** _At the Sanctuary._**

The storm had started to get really bad by the time he was half way home. The slide and the entry were difficult, but once Valentin got inside, he laid the two of them into the grass. Though shivering cold and soaking wet, he turned his gaze upward. Spreading his wings, he made a beeline for Francis's hollow.

He yanked the curtains back as he hissed as loud as he dared.  
"Francis! Wake up!"

The blonde rolled over, his usually immaculate, glossy hair stuck up every which way.

"Oui, oui, I am up. What is it?" He mumbled as he struggled to get out of bed, kicking away the sheets that tangled up his legs.

Valentin let out a shocked yelp at the fact that he was buck naked.

"Why aren't you wearing pants?" The vampire demanded in a high pitched voice as he covered his eyes with a gloved hand.

Francis gave his classic laugh. "I am covered up by blankets, so why wear anything else?"

Valentin groaned. "Dammit, just get dressed. The two I found are badly injured."

All of his joking manner melted away as Francis moved quickly towards his dresser. Once he was back in his usual dress pants and vest, which he wore in varying colors just about every day, he came climbing down the ladder to the grassy cavern center.

The freshly awoken healer ran over to where the two bodies lay, still as death, in the grass, with Valentin beside them.

Skidding down from the run onto his knees, the frenchman went to work immediately.

Valentin flitted about anxiously, obviously irritating the healer, as a yawn reached his ears. Turning, he saw Yao shuffling towards them with lidded golden eyes and a stuffed panda under one arm.

"What's going on?" He demanded.

Valentin tore his attention from the work being done and focused on the bleary eyed chinaman.

"I found them in an alley, I was following directions from the tome and it looks like they had crashed into the trash cans."

Yao's eyes widened as he looked over to the two of them.

"Aii-yah! Their wings! They look like you!"

Valentin swallowed hard. "Yeah. They're vampires."

He took in the faces of the ones he'd brought down below a bit better, and now, looking into the face of the younger, he felt a painful throb in his heart.

 _Fire was everywhere, his mother was screaming at him to run, his little brother was crying. He was running out the door, trying to reach the body of his father before it collapsed to the ground with a stake protruding from his heart. Crying out, he charged the man who had done it. Another stake was raised, aimed for his heart, and self preservation kicked in. His wings weren't strong enough to carry his weight, and his strength at thirteen only put him at level with a grown man. Strong for his size, but not strong enough to overpower the one before him. His father was lying dead on the ground behind him. Panicking, he did the only thing he could think. Despite what his father had warned him of, he seized the front of the mans shirt, pulled him down, and sank his fangs into the side of his neck._

 _His mouth filled with sweet, delicious blood. He'd never once thought of the stuff as this wonderfully tasting before. It went dribbling down his chin as he pulled away, the lifeless body tumbling to the side. Briefly he wondered if the man would turn, but recalled that was impossible because he wasn't a full blooded vampire. The man was dead, and would not become the monster Valentin had been born as. Had had no choice but to become the same thing that haunted small children's nightmares. The cries of his brother were falling on deaf ears, the screams of his poor human mother as she was murdered went unheard, the sight of his vampiric father with a stake through his heart wasn't fully registered. All of it was unnoticed, as he looked to the other attackers, tongue running over his lips to catch the droplets of the scarlet liquid that had escaped him. They were staring at him in unadulterated terror, because in front of their very eyes, he'd just drained a man dry. Scarlet eyes filled with bloodlust._

 _That one man hadn't been enough. He wanted more._

But this was exactly what his father had warned him against. Never drink human blood. Though it will enthrall you and empower you, never drink it, for you will do things you regret. What scared Valentin the most was that, while he regretted deeply not being able help his mother or father, and grieved the loss of his baby brother every day, he never once regretted that he'd taken the life from the eyes of those evil mad men. Perhaps it was that mere fact that Valentin regretted more then anything else.

"Valentin!" Yao was snapping his fingers in front of the vampires face.

Valentin blinked several times, snapping himself from the stupor the flashback had put him in. The face of this young vampire, blissfully asleep, awoke the memory deep inside him.

Because if his little brother had lived to grow up, Valentin would imagine he'd look exactly like the one lying on the ground before him.

Of course that could not be. Aurel had been six when the attack had hit, unable to fly with his barely full grown wings, unable to fight with his strength having not yet manifested. Trapped on the second story of their former home. There was no possible way for Aurel to have escaped by himself. Valentin had done nothing to help him either, caught up in his raging bloodlust after he'd drank from that vampire hunter in self defense.

"Are you ok, aru?" Yao waved a hand in front of his nose, trying to get him to come fully back to earth.

Shaking his head, Valentin pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling weak.

"No...I'm fine. Just...the younger one reminds me of someone...that I lost a long time ago."

Yao's face instantly took on that wise look from beyond his years.

"Go get some rest and dry off. It must have been hard flying all the way back here with these two in the rain, aru. I'll stay up with Francis and help them get into bed."  
Valentin nodded unwillingly.

"Thank you." He mumbled before managed to unfold his wings and send himself up towards his hollow.

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: I hope you're all ready for tears.**_

 _ **Feliks: I'm already crying!**_

 _ **Amethyst: Great! Wait, why!? Who made him cry!?**_

 _ **Gilbert: The awesome me wanted to check and see if that wolf tail was real!**_

 _ **Feliks: So he pulled it with demon super strength and I feel like my tailbone is broken!**_

 _ **Amethyst: *Rolls us sleeve* Gilbert...**_

 _ **Gilbert: I am demon spawn! You cannot defeat...*gets pegged by purple lightning bolt ball***_

 _ **Everyone: Oooooooo...**_

 _ **Ludwig: *Rolls eyes* You deserved it.**_

 _ **Amethyst: I appreciate the back up. You really aren't sixteen are you?**_

 _ **Ludwig: I am. Why?**_

 _ **Amethyst: *Stares up at muscle bound, weirdly tall demon spawn* Never mind...**_

 _ **Feliks: *Rubbing tail* Favorite...follow...review...does anyone have an ice pack?**_

 _ **Amethyst: Do any readers have an ice pack they can lend Feliks? Anyone at all? ANYONE!? NO ONE!? Sheesh, fickle crowd.**_

 ** _Tino: I could...!_**

 ** _Everyone: NO._**

 ** _Tino: But why?_**

 ** _Berwald: You want ta accidentally freeze'im solid?_**

 _ **Feliks: It's fine! Please don't try to help! Please! I'm fine! *Still crying* But, like, ow...that was mean...**_

 _ **Gilbert: *Emerges from pile of rubble* I HAVE NO REGRETS!**_

 _ **Amethyst: You're about too! *Charges Gilbert***_

 _ **Ludwig: CUT IT OUT!**_


	22. The blame game (Now with murder!)

**_Please enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _The next morning._**

"See you tonight, Vali!" Alfred called as he and Matthew went flying out of the tunnel to head up to the sunny skies of the city above.

"Have a good day!" Valentin waved them off from the tunnel mouth.

Sighing, he turned his gaze from the deadly sun rays streaming from the mouth of the exit, before it was sealed by the sliding slab, to look at the pretty much empty cavern. Allistor, Toby, Peter, Michelle and Jett were all still sleeping underwater, but once they woke up, they'd bid him a cheery good morning before going out to enjoy what was surely a wonderful, bright, sunny day out in the isolated waters.

As has now clearly been established, sun shone aboveground right now, leaving the vampire alone.

At least, that's how it would normally work. His friends would all head out for the day, and he'd be left to idle around the cavern by himself, reading from the tome, sweeping leaves that had fallen from the trees, or sleeping the day away.

Today, however, things were different.

Valentin stretched his arms above his head as he walked towards a ground level hollow, which contained several beds all in a row, along with a set of shelves containing bandages and other hospital equipment. It had clearly been set up to be a medical ward, and once Francis had arrived he'd turned it into his own personal domain, reorganizing everything to his liking. Within, the two vampires Valentin had rescued were both still unconscious. Francis's healing could save lives, but it required a lot of rest for a full recovery. As such, often times the magic would cause the one being healed to remain asleep for however long it took for their bodies to catch up to the healing power. Francis predicted that the older of the two would likely wake up first, and that it would take the younger an hour or so more to open his own eyes. The original vampire of the Sanctuary looked over the face of the younger again, feeling that same awful pang of guilt in his heart.

What would Aurel be, if he'd grown up?

Valentin was still certain he'd have looked similar to this boy who lay before him now, if only Valentin hadn't been caught in his bloodlust. Then perhaps Aurel would be standing by his side at that moment. With his bright smile and constant calling out for 'Big Brother' to come check out some cool rock or stick or whatever it was his boundless curiosity had led him to discover.

Valentin left the curtain to the ward open so that he'd be able to see if either of them were to get up, before he headed towards the underwater dwellings to see if the merfolk had left for the day yet. They hadn't, and Valentin spent the next few minutes greeting a grumpy scottish selkie and asking what his plans were for the day.

"Damn Peter is dragging us all to Coney Island. We've been promising to take him and putting it off because we need a safe spot to dry our skin out, plus the Aussies didn't own pants or long sleeves. Kid actually circled around the island until he found a small enclave that was deserted, and he planted towels for us there as well. Now that Toby and Jett have the right clothes for it, we can't turn his stupid puppy dog eyes down anymore."

After this Peter surfaced, bubbling with excitement for his day on the island with his fellow finned friends. He was quickly followed by the other three, and Allistor heaved a large sigh when Michelle announced it was time for them to head off. They all bid Valentin farewell, some more enthusiastically then others, and the romanian watched as they dove underwater again. Sparkling scales and dull tanned seal skin vanished through the tunnel that opened out into the ocean beyond.

Now he truly was alone with no one but the recovering vampires.

Valentin walked back over to the ward and settled himself in for the wait. He got up and paced about, flew in circles occasionally, and tapped his foot, antsy and impatient. He could always go to sleep, but he'd been training himself to remain awake during the day. After he was able to fully rotate his sleep cycle, he intended to work on his durability with heat and sunlight. So long as he was covered up, he wanted to be able to survive outside, so that he wouldn't have to be left behind down in the underground. Two hours came and went with neither of the vampires coming too. Valentin was currently lying on his back in the grass outside the ward, trying to decipher the runes that went floating by above him, when the faintest moan caught his attention.

Jumping up, he brightened to see the black haired vampire stirring first, just as Francis had predicted.

Hurrying to the young man's bedside, Valentin watched as his eyes slowly creaked open. They were a dark shade of scarlet, just like his own. Smiling, Valentin waited for the weary soul to fully come into awareness before speaking quietly.

"Do you feel alright?"

The black haired vampire cried out in surprise, kicking his feet to push himself up to the headboard of the ornately carved bed.

"W-Who are you? Where am I!?" He demanded, clutching at the blankets.

Valentin put up his hands, he'd expected the new recruit to panic.

"It's alright. I'm just like you, you don't have to be afraid of me."  
Scarlet eyes flashed with distrust.

"Just like me?" He questioned.

Valentin didn't hesitate to fan out his wings slightly and widen his eyes a bit more to draw attention to their unique color.

"I'm a vampire. Like you. See?"

He grinned to show off his fangs.

Slumping against his pillows, the raven looked shocked.  
"A vampire? Here? Wait..."

He looked out into the cavern.

"Where is here?" He asked urgently.

Valentin explained about the Sanctuary, and about how he'd found them both, as levelheadedly as possible.

Finally having calmed, Valentin got the sense that this vampire was fairly calculated of an individual, and he now sat up, swinging his legs down over the edge of the bed.

"I'm Nicolae. Thank you for bringing us here."

"Not at all. Speaking of which..."

Valentin glossed over his own name when this thought occurred.

"How did you crash into that alley? It looked like you fell right out of the sky."

Nicolae scowled. "Some guys with weird armor and even weirder guns started shooting at us. One of them clipped my wing with a shot, and with no other choice I wound up crashing in the alley and dragging him down. He's not strong enough to carry my weight and his own combined. But he wouldn't let go of me, so instead he took the brunt of the impact and tried to lessen the blow to me. That kid is gonna get himself killed one day with that attitude, he should know by now I care more about his life then my own."

Looking back, Nicolae gazed fondly over the slumbering young form.  
"Thank you for saving him." He repeated his gratitude.

Valentin smiled. "Like I said, I'm happy to help. Is he your little brother?"

It was a guess, but it seemed fairly accurate. If not perhaps they were just friends, or had met in the skies and decided to stick together, like Valentin had with Arthur?

The raven shook his head. "Not my brother. I found him half starved wandering the forest near my home village when he was only six. He told me what happened to him as best he could. His father and older brother were vampires, and his mother a human. Vampire hunters attacked his home, and his father and brother ran outside to fight. His father was killed almost at once, and his brother..."

Nicolae shuddered as Valentin felt his hands starting to shake.

"Even though he was six, he says he still remembers the whole night with vivid clarity. Says he was watching from the window as his older brother was forced to drink human blood in self defense."

Valentin swallowed the dryness in his throat.

"The brother went on a killing spree. Then he spun around when he heard his mother screaming. Watched his mother murdered right in front of him."

Nicolae looked back to the boy again with pity in his eyes.

"He jumped from the back window and managed to glide with his wings enough to break his fall. He says he heard his brother screaming in agony, and he was so scared he just took off running into the forest. I found him two days later."

Valentin stared to the boy with fresh eyes. That sort of familiarity couldn't be coincidence could it? So familiar to remind him of that adorable baby boy he could remember playing with in the living room while his father read in the armchair and his mother watched them with tinkling laughter falling from her lips. The shades tightly drawn to block out the scorching sun. The surprised cry from him the first time he'd ever turned his face to the sun, only to come away with his face burnt red for a week.

"Aurel..." He murmured.

Nicolae glanced up to him.

"Yeah, it must have been tough for a six year...what? I didn't tell you his name."

Valentin wiped roughly at his eyes with his sweatshirt sleeve, but he knew whether he liked it or not he was going to start crying.

"What's wrong?"

"I couldn't save him that night...but he made it away on his own. I never even thought to look for him. After I came back and the house was burnt down, I didn't even consider that he could have survived. All because I couldn't control myself, then maybe I would have had enough mind to go looking for him."

Nicolae was on edge.

"What are you talking about?"

The brunette pressed a palm heavily into his forehead.

"I'm Valentin." He spoke plainly.

Nicolae froze up momentarily.

"Valentin. But...but that's Aurel's older brother's name. You're...?"

Valentin nodded slowly.

"I wasn't strong enough, and I couldn't fly properly yet. My only choice if I wanted to survive was to bite. I _knew_ I shouldn't, Papa always warned me never to drink human blood. But if I hadn't he would have staked me. I didn't realize just how intoxicating it is."

Nicolae looked awestruck.

"I've never...tasted it...is it that good?"

Valentin didn't hesitate to answer this, even as he covered his eyes with one hand in guilt.  
"Yes. It's like a drug. The second I tasted it the only thing I could think about was getting more. There were a dozen hunters that attacked our home that night. I drained them all dry. I almost went to the village next."

Nicolae inhaled sharply in horror, eyes widening.

Valentin shook his head jerkily.

"I didn't, though. I held myself back. I went back to the house, but it was too late. Mama and Papa were both dead, and Aurel was gone. The house was nothing but a stack of burnt out wood, and I was already to wreaked, exhausted, covered in blood, feeling horrible and disturbed. I didn't even think to look for him. I just assumed he couldn't have survived. I'm such an idiot!"

Valentin knocked sharply on his head with his knuckles.

"If I'd just found another way to escape those men, I would have been able to find him!"

Nicolae put a hand on his knee, a pokerfaced expression having fallen into place.

"Don't think that way. If Aurel told me correctly, you were thirteen at the time of the attack. That's too young to have powerful strength, too young to have strong enough wings to fly. You'd have had to use your fangs either way."

Valentin forced himself to nod.

"You're...you're right. But it's so disgusting...I regret not being strong enough to help Papa. I regret not running back into the house to help Mama or Aurel, but I have never once regretted drinking from that mans neck."

Valentin looked up at him desperately.

"How twisted is that?"

Nicolae gave a dry laugh.  
"Twisted or not it's in our nature." He replied.

"It doesn't make a damn bit of different if we feel guilty about it or not."

Valentin moaned. "That much is true."

They spent the next hour discussing vampire related things. Nicole, as Valentin discovered, was Bulgarian, and had been wandering Europe as a pre teen when he found Aurel in the forest. Valentin had managed to cheer up considerably since the outburst over his fanged attack as a thirteen year old, and was now marveling at how the universe had decided to be kind to him for once. His little brother had been brought back to him, after all. Was lying there, breathing, heart beating, older and stronger but still the same boy. Right there in front of Valentin. If this wasn't a gift from the heavens who had previously been so cruel, he didn't know what was.

It was about an hour and a half later that Aurel, who'd been lying dormant in bed, started stirring.

Nicolae and Valentin were at either side of him at once.

Aurel's eyes fluttered slowly open, and the first person he laid eyes on was Nicolae.

"Nico! What happened!?" He shot up out bed instantly, turning to the raven haired man.

Nicolae wrapped his arms around the thirteen year old.

"I'm glad you're ok. We were rescued by another vampire."

Aurel pulled away in shock.  
"R-Really? Another vampire? Where?"

Nicolae pointed to the opposite side of the bed, which Aurel hadn't even considered yet, and the boy whipped his head around.

He and Valentin locked eyes.

The boy stared at him for a few uninterrupted moments.

"You..." He mumbled.

Valentin bit down on his lower lip.

"Ja?"

Aurel shook his head. "You reminded me of someone...sorry."

He forced himself to brighten up. "I'm Aurel. Thank you for helping us."

Valentin didn't even care anymore, he pulled the boy to him and hugged him tightly.  
"E-Eh!?" Aurel yelped, as he hesitantly returned the hug without clue of why it was being given.

"I remind you of your brother, don't I? Of Vali?"

Aurel went rigid as Valentin pulled away from him, hands on his shoulders as he looked into those confused, round scarlet eyes that still hadn't changed.

"Yes." He admitted finally.

Valentin felt something warm race down his cheek, and he didn't realize he'd teared up again.

"You remind me of my little brother. Aurel. You're alive. My little brother."

Aurel looked as though his entire world has just been yanked right out from under him, eyes open wide, and within an instant tears had begun to form.

"Big Brother?" He asked softly.

"Yeah. It's me." Valentin managed.

Aurel was the one who threw himself forward this time, clinging around the older vampires neck.  
"It's really you!" He cried out.

Valentin held him close, settling his head on the younger shoulder.

Pulling back for the second time, Aurel shook his head several times.  
"But I saw you bite a hunter in the neck! I thought they killed you!"

Valentin swallowed, feeling the guilt wash over him all over again.

"I'm sorry."

Aurel was taken aback. He wasn't sure what the apology was for.

Valentin dropped back to squat down onto his haunches, balanced on the balls of his feet with his elbows on his knees. One hand was pressed to cover half of his face.

"I'm sorry I let myself get taken over. If I'd just controlled myself I would have been able to figure out that you'd jumped from the window. I drank a humans blood instead. Then I killed them all. All twelve of them. But not in time to help Mama or Papa. Not in time to figure out that you'd survived the house burning down. All because I got so caught up in mindless bloodlust that I chased down all of the hunters, even wen they tried to run..."

Aurel grabbed Valentin by the hand.

"You can't be mad at yourself about that! Don't be...don't feel like you're a disgrace. Or a murderer. It was the only way for you to survive. Otherwise, you never would have made it."

Valentin didn't like the way Aurel spoke.

It as if from experience.

"Big Brother, there weren't twelve hunters."

Valentin was throughly befuddled by this statement. Not twelve hunters? Of course there were only twelve hunters, he'd seen to it that all twelve of their bodies fell dead with his own two hands.

 _Unless...there were some outside the back of the house._

Valentin felt his heart stop.

 _Out back...the same place where Aurel jumped from the window._

"There were fifteen." Aurel admitted.

Valentin felt Aurel tighten his grip on his hand, and he didn't pull away from him as the boy continued.  
"I never told Nico. Not anyone. I felt awful for it. I did what Papa always told us never to do. But that man, he grabbed me and picked me up by my hair. It hurt and I was screaming and he was screaming and the next thing I knew my mouth was filled with his blood. I drank from him. Drained him. Killed him. Then his comrade came for me and I felt like a monster. I wanted to drink more. It was terrifying to have such a primal desire. I killed three men when I was only six years old!"

Valentin wasn't sure what else to do, so he held him again.  
"It's ok. It's ok. You didn't mean it. It was self defense. You could never have survived otherwise. They were trying to kill you first."

Aurel's voice had gone a bit pitchy.  
"But the same goes for you! You couldn't have fought any other way! So don't let it eat you up inside. I knew that it was the only way I could have made it, so I accepted it, but I never forgave myself."

Aurel broke off to sniffle softly.

"I don't ever want you to feel like us getting separated was your fault."

Valentin nodded against the side of his little brother's head.

"...I won't anymore."

"I missed you, Big Brother."

"I missed you too."

 ** _Later that Day_**

Arthur blanched slightly when Nicolae told the brit just why Valentin and Aurel were seated a couple hundred feet up, feet dangling from the edge of the wall of one of the hollows.

"They're brothers? Bloody hell, but Vali told me his little brother died in a vampire hunter attack."

Nicolae shrugged.

"Aurel told me that his older brother died in a vampire hunter attack. They were both caught in one big misunderstanding."

Alfred squinted up at the reunited siblings.

"We've been having an awful lot of good luck lately. I'm almost worried it's gonna run out soon."  
Matthew sighed softly.

"Now that you said it out loud, it just might. Knock on wood, Al."

Alfred yelped before he looked back and forth.

He then promptly ran over to Wisteria and knocked on the top of her head three times.  
"OUCH! What was that for, you jerk!?" She cried up at him.

Alfred shrugged awkwardly.

"Mattie said I had to knock on wood."

"I'm not an actual piece of wood you dummy!" She fumed before turning and stalking off.

Alfred chased after her, shouting out apologies, and Arthur turned his gaze back up to the duo of vampires up above them, clearly catching up on six years of wasted time. Currently Aurel was waving his arms around to assist his description of...something or another...and Valentin was laughing at him, smiling brighter then Arthur had ever seen him do.

Matthew looked over to his older brother, and saw a weariness writ across his features.

"Iggy? Is something wrong?"

Arthur sighed, crossing his arms.

"I'm just really worried now. Alfred has a point, our good fortune won't last forever. I'm starting to wonder just when this will all turn out to be too good to have lasted. Those labs. The troops we keep running into. What the hell is going to happen to us once we can't just keep snatching people up and running away?"

Francis came swaggering on over just now, and overheard this last bit.

"So what? We can fight and then run. It is not as though it is that difficult to outrun those blundering buffoons when we've got people like the Faye, Sadik, and Romeo on our team."

Matthew looked out over the den of mythical beings all walking, flying, chatting, and playing together. Brought together, in an essence, by the fallen angel with the unmanageable hair and the emerald eyes.

The quiet younger twin sighed softly.

"You're right. We've just got to be ready for it when it all comes crashing down."

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: I've set it up for darker things to come.**_

 ** _Arthur: Lovely. Simply splendid. We'll all just hide underground for the rest of forever now, kay?_**

 ** _Amethyst: Not gonna happen._**

 ** _Arthur: *Shrugs* Worth a shot._**

 ** _Allistor: Ahem. Did you seriously freak out over me to then barely ever mention me!?  
_**

 ** _Amethyst: ALLIE! *Tackle hug*_**

 ** _Allistor: NOOOO! *Tackle hugged*_**

 ** _Yao: ...wait wheres Kiku?_**

 ** _Mei Mei: Most likely rolling around wrapped up in blankets somewhere_**

 ** _Kiku: *Up above everyone else in his nonexistent room that turns out to actually be existent, chilling while listening to J-Pop and reading Manga.* Ahh...who ever thought being sent to my room could actually turn out to be a good thing? *Removes earbuds* Oh, hello everyone! Please favorite, follow and review to see our continued adventures! Please also let me know if you want to hear another prolonged tirade on how Amethyst-san defies the laws of science. Arigato! *Puts earbuds back in*_**


	23. Kitten Power!

_**Here's the next chapter, I hope you all like it!**_

* * *

 ** _Several weeks later._**

Emil padded his way through the back alleys of the city. Lukas was being clingy again, not to mention Mathias was going through a mood swing, and he swore to god that Yao was on his period or something.

All in all, life in the Sanctuary was getting hectic. It was no longer a peaceful, quiet oasis, but a lively, bustling place where the next generation of Emil's species resided.

Emil was absolutely sick of it as well, it was getting ridiculously crowded. People were showing up at all hours of the night, most injured, begging through the slab for salvation. Of course they were allowed in, they merely needed to prove their abilities. The Sanctuary would reject no one.

Now, it wasn't to say that it was elbow to elbow down there, but Emil suspected things had gotten to the point where their was a good sixty or so people living in the space.

Emil had lived with, at most, four people in his lifetime. He was not prepared for sixty some myth creatures flying around. After freaking out when smoke started pouring out of his ears, only to realize Sadik had decided to take a nap _inside his head_ he'd bolted. Not for good, of course, he loved the Sanctuary, his friends, and his new home. Not to mention his brother and him had gotten back onto good terms. Like when he was younger, they played card games, Lukas tried to teach him runes, and in return, Emil attempted to teach his older brother to shape change. Neither were being met with much success, but that was beside the point. A love was being rekindled there that had been stomped out for five years. Even so, Emil needed a bit of alone time.

Which is why, when he was suddenly met with agonizing pain in his side, he was not at all prepared.

Black edged his vision as he made out the form of a lab soldier above him. But he didn't look like a normal lab soldier. He had the same symbol as all of them had on his lapel, that of an orange phoenix rising from the ashes in a circular movement. This one had his face covered with a plexiglass black mask, and his hair or other distinguishing physical features were disguised by the heavy black hood that was up and over his head. His coat was past his knees with heavy black pants puffed out over brown boots. The buttons of the coat were orange, and so was the lining. The coat had squared off tails, with swiss crosses around the bottom at certain intervals.

"Caught another one. How fun." He snapped as he aimed his weapon down.

Emil desperately tried to manifest enough power to shape change to his tiger form, but he found he couldn't even get his paws back under him.

 _Nothings broke...but I'm disoriented...dammit I'll need a minute to recover...this guy isn't planning on giving me a minute, though!_

Emil cursed inside his head as he crushed his eyes shut, prepared for capture or for the gun trigger to be pulled.

Then the soldier suddenly let out a short gasp and went sprinting away, throughly shocking Emil.

Give a moment, and a girl in a pink dress came walking around the corner.

She noticed him lying there, looking just barely conscious, and practically melted.

"Aw...poor little guy!" She squealed, bowing to scoop him up from the ground.

 _What is life?_

Emil thought miserably as he felt a hand stroking his fur.

Not sure exactly where he was heading, but feeling the black that had started swarming his vision clouding in thicker, he figured it couldn't hurt to let this girl think he was a cat for a few hours while he recovered.

After all, it wasn't as though he'd have any trouble running off later, right?

 ** _Several hours later._**

Emil work up surrounded by warmth atop a fluffy pink duvet.

Standing up, he stretched, arching his back.

It wasn't odd to him to wake up in kitten form, he often shifted forms before he went to bed. It made the mattress seem a lot bigger, and it was a lot warmer, sleeping with fur instead of sleeping under the blankets.

What was new was the fact that instead of looking around to see rock walls and a red curtain, or hearing the sounds of others out and about in the center of the cavern, he was met with a decidedly new view.

The walls were pink. The dresser was white. The side table was white. The bed was white. The floor was hardwood, covered in pink throw rugs. The curtains were pink. There were posters of some girly boy band and a few different movies and TV shows.

There was also a white door which was cracked open.

Emil darted out, making a beeline for the nearest exit.

Unfortunately, he had no clue where that may be. As such, he began to sniff around the house. It was a modest apartment by the look of things. The first escape Emil made for was the window, after all, he could shift to human form, unlock it, then shift back to cat form and jump out to land on his feet.

That idea was quickly shut down when it was revealed that he was in a skyscraper apartment, towering a good twenty stories above the ground.

 _I'm a cat, but I don't think I could land on my feet from this high up._

Emil briefly cursed the fact that he was the only faye out of the five that lived in the Sanctuary that couldn't perform the rune spell for wings. Having had this option barred to him, Emil made his way over to the front door.

Which was locked.

 _Ok, simple enough solution, just check around to be sure no one is home, then shift, undo the deadbolt, and walk out._

Emil then set his quest on making sure no one was in the apartment. He wandered through all of the rooms, finding the living room, which opened up to the kitchen, a single full bathroom, a storage closet, and another bedroom. Confirming nobody was in the apartment, Emil bolted back over to the front door. White smoke consumed him, and he became humanoid once more. He undid the deadbolt, the second deadbolt (why?) the third (geez paranoid aren't we?) the knob lock, (ok fine) and the door chain (this is just overboard). Once all of them were undone he turned the knob and pushed.

The door shifted a bit, but it didn't open.

Emil pressed into it harder. Still nothing. Harder still, and he was met with no success. Scowling as he struggled with the door, he then came to the realization that he had absolutely no idea which part of the city he was in. Or if he were even in New York anymore. Judging by what he could see from the window, it was New York City for sure. That was a small consolidation to the fact that the city was a very big place, and there were a lot of apartments that he could be trapped in. Giving the door one last futile shove, Emil started to pace the living room. If he remembered correctly, he'd been pissed off since Sadik had taken a nap in his head, yet again, why? Then he'd heading off to do some snooping around the city in kitten form, and one of the labs man had caught him. There had been something different about the man who had kicked him, but Emil couldn't quite recall it. The kick had succeeded in knocking him out, but only after the man had bolted before a girl had come along and picked him up. He'd elected to allow her to care for him, only while he recovered from that staggering, booted blow.

 _Not my fault, that kick was rough!_

The icelandic knew this was a bad excuse. He shouldn't have gone near her in the first place. It was dangerous to use his abilities around humans, he should have run, even if he'd been injured, at the very least he should have hissed and spit at her to scare her off. Instead he'd gone with trusting her, and look where it had gotten him.

Granted, a middle class apartment was a lot better then a cell, but it was still a prison.

Emil was about to begin debating busting down the door in tiger form when there was a jiggling of the locks on the door.

Emil ran from side to side, grasping at his white-silver hair, panicking, before finally remembering he was supposed to be a cat, and shrinking down into kitten form.

Not a moment later the girl that had rescued him entered, she dropped a padlock onto the table located next to the door casually as she did so.

Emil glared at the padlock with a hatred that burned hotter then the sun.

 _They are so paranoid they lock their apartment from the outside with a padlock when no one is home!? How the hell do I get out of here!?_

He was interrupted from his loathing of the inanimate device that separated him from freedom when he was scooped up off of the ground by Lilli.

"Hi there, kitty! I talked to Big Brother on the phone, and he says you can stay with us as long as I take care of you! Isn't that great?"

Emil fixed her with a furious expression, but apparently his death glare in human form equalled adorable squinty eyes in cat form.

"You're so cute! I'm so glad I'll have someone to keep me company. Big Brother is gone at work all day and night. Sometimes I don't even see him all day because I have to go to bed and to school."

The girl carried Emil into her bedroom, the room Emil had woken up in, and set him lightly down onto the bed.

Resistance was futile since he couldn't actually go anywhere, so he settled in, eyeing her purse, which she'd set down onto the bedside table.

 _If I could get the keys...then I wouldn't be able to unlock the padlock because I'm still inside while it's still outside. Ok, that's a no go._

Emil dropped his kitten head from where it was looking at the keychain on the purse to rest on his paws with a sigh.

 _I'm so screwed._

Meanwhile, Lilli had finished putting away her things and settled down onto the bed, leaning back onto her headboard, she crossed her legs.

The girl patted at the hammock formed by her skirt tucked under her ankles eagerly.

"Come on!" She prompted.

Emil didn't budge.

Lilli wasn't deterred, she only giggled.

"Don't be so stubborn! You don't have to live out in the dark scary forest anymore! That's where you came from, I'll bet! Tons of strays live out there."

 _Dark and scary are not the correct words to describe that place. Safe and pretty are more accurate...hey hey hey whoa whoa whoa! Hands off!_

The girl had picked him up again, settling him down into the hammock of her skirt and stroking his fur.

Emil felt himself starting to purr, and attempted to growl up at her, but it escaped as a squeaky meow. This only encouraged Lilli to continue petting him as she spoke.

"What should I name you?"

Emil squirmed at the question, escaping her grasp and jumping off the bed, hiding away underneath it.

"Hey! Come out! I don't wanna call you something you don't like! I was gonna go with something cute like Snuggles..."

Lilli spoke a bit louder then necessary.

 _Snuggles!?_

Emil was back on top of the bed, swiping his paws at the air in front of the girl who'd brought him home with her.

Lilli smiled brightly.

"I knew that would get you out. You're a really smart cat, aren't you?"

Emil stopped his swiping and sat still for a moment.

 _Crap. I'm acting like a person in a cat body. Which I AM but she can't know that!_

"Well, your fur is really pretty and white. You remind me of new fallen snow. So how about Snowy?"  
Emil turned his nose up at the name.

Sighing, Lilli reached forward and scratched Emil behind the ears.

"Well...I do like your little star around your eyes. Black on white. Like black ice. Oh! Ice!"

She clapped her hands, bouncing excitedly.

"I'll call you Icy!"

Emil hated how that was actually a nickname Mathias had given him when he was little, playing off his heritage. It had stuck, and most of the other members of his weird family type group still called him that interchangeably with his first name.

"No protest! It's settled then!"

Emil didn't even bother to struggle when she picked him up again, Lilli carrying him out into the living room, where he was promptly set onto the couch while Lilli reached for the TV remote.

Having movie night in cat form while with a girl who thought he was actually a cat was ridiculously awkward. When he felt himself getting tired, he didn't think it was worth the effort of trying to stay up through this cheesy chick flick that Lilli had put on.

So for the second time that day, he fell asleep, this time curled up in the soft material of the girls skirt.

* * *

 ** _Amethyst: *Reads SweetHoneyBees review* Well...yeah. Pretty much. And that wasn't the last time either, except next time it's not going to involve a giant misunderstanding._**

 ** _Lukas: I get the sense you enjoy tearing people apart, putting them back together, and then proceeding to make them suffer more for this small privilege._**

 ** _Amethyst: *Dramatic gasp* LUKAS! How could you EVER accuse me of something so very ATROCIOUS!?_**

 ** _Lukas: ...I wonder...was it the part where you threw lightning spheres around? Or the part where you went on a power trip?_**

 ** _Tino: I'd say it was when she thought it was a great idea write a plot point by plot point list of the rest of this story while underlining parts in red ink and labeling red as "EXTRA ANGST NECESSARY"_**

 ** _Amethyst: So what? People like angst._**

 ** _Tino: *Snatches Amethyst's pink notebook* Wait why is your notebook pink?_**

 ** _Amethyst: Just because my name is a color doesn't mean I can't like pink. I'm a girl. My room is pink from when I was seven and asked my mom to paint it. Pink is pretty. Shut up._**

 ** _Tino: Okay then...*flips open notebook* Amethyst..._**

 ** _Amethyst: What? What? What? What did I do wrong this time?_**

 ** _Tino: *Holds up notebook* Everything is underlined in red. *Starts flipping pages* The entire plot point list is underlined in red!_**

 ** _Amethyst: So?_**

 ** _Tino: So it's all angst?_**

 ** _Amethyst: Nah...there's a few funny scenes...but yeah. Mostly terror and death from here on out. Have fun guys! *Leaves*_**

 ** _Mathias: Wait how come she can leave and we can't!?_**

 ** _Lars: I suppose I'll do this stupid thing, then...ugh...I guess I'd like it if you'd favorite, follow and review! There, I did it! Don't look at me! *Runs*_**


	24. Homecoming dangers

**_We just hit 200 reviews! :D Thanks everyone! This is awesome! Anyway, please enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _Three weeks later._**

Emil paced, in human form, back and forth in the living room of the apartment.

A better trap could never have been devised on purpose.

This was for all intents and purposes the Alcatraz prison to the poor myth creature.

He couldn't risk revealing the existence of his species to the girl by using his human or tiger form to force his way out. It was also against his morals to severely damage their home, when they were clearly tight on money, by smashing down the door or wall as a tiger. If he could only knock the door from it's hinges, then it would be fine, by the entryway was so narrow that it was impossible, and in order to get enough running space to get out the door, he'd have to take the wall and half the living room with him. Along with possibly ripping out the sink and demolishing the fridge.

He couldn't stand doing that to them, when he'd observed the older brother, Vash, as he'd learned, bent over heaping stacks of bills late into the night after drinking far to many cups of coffee.

Emil had given his opinion on the coffee by tipping the mug over with his tail and spilling the liquid into Vash's lap.

He'd gotten a good laugh out of it, if anything.

It seemed like the older brother had a personal hatred for Emil. Not really like he expressed it, but never paid any attention to the kitten. Lilli more then made up for it, showering him with near constant attention when she was home. Though, for some reason, Vash was always glaring at him or turning up his nose whenever Emil would do something cat-like in order to keep up his facade. Emil had always acted super cat like during the few hours the siblings spent together, and still couldn't get Vash to warm up to him.

It was worrisome to say the least.

Back to the escaping, though.

If he were to simply bust out, that would also reveal his true nature. Or at the very least that he was some sort of monster. Groaning, Emil flopped onto his back on the couch. Calling for help was out of the question, for his abilities didn't reach spell casting level. The best he could do was a simple white and blue flare, and if anyone he knew saw that, of which the chances were slim, there was no guarantee they would realize what it was. The faye kicked his booted feet in the air above him as he lazed about.

The life of a domestic cat did have it's perks, all he had to do was lay around all day, and occasionally humor Lilli by attacking one of the toy mice that were currently strewn around the apartment.

Not to mention that since he could be in human form all he wanted before the real humans got home, he could watch TV or use Lilli's laptop all he wanted, so long as he reverted the channel back to normal on the TV, and erased his search history and closed his windows on the laptop.

Even so, he certainly didn't want to be stuck here for the rest of his life, but escape was proving no easy task. Emil attempted to run out the front door in cat form every chance he got, but by now the humans were well used to his antics, and ever time he would either be scooped up and cooed over by Lilli, or blocked by a dress shoe belonging to Vash.

Vash would then proceed to nudge him none to gently back into the apartment before closing the door behind him.

Sighing, Emil glanced up at the clock.

 _Lilli will be home any minute now. Better get back to it._

Stretching, he enveloped himself in white smoke before shrinking into the kitten that had been dubbed 'Icy'.

He curled into a contented ball on the back of the armchair to wait.

Sure enough, the front door was unlocked within the next five minutes, and the door swung open, the padlock being deposited onto the small hallway table.

"I'm home, Icy!"

Emil watched her with large, lantern like pink eyes as Lilli walked in and dropped her backpack on the couch.

The icelandic braced himself.

 _Here it comes._

He was promptly snatched from his perch on the back of the armchair and cradled in Lilli's arms. The girl cuddled him, giggling.

"I missed you!" She exclaimed.

Emil regretted the fact that he'd become semi-attached to the girl. Not to the point where he was willing to waste his life in the apartment as a cat, but to the point where he didn't want to do anything that would harm her. That's why he wanted to run away, in cat form, and keep it to the point where she would think her cat ran away. That was it. He didn't want to taint her memory of, well, whatever sort of relationship they had going, by transforming into a human or a tiger, or destroying her apartment.

Definitely no apartment destroying, at the very least.

After a few minutes of greeting her cat with scratches behind the ears, she carried Emil into her bedroom and set him down onto the bed.

"I've got no homework today, and I got you a surprise!"

 _Oh I don't like where this is going._

"Check it out!"

She produced a strange little keychain thing that Emil had never once seen before in his life.

 _What is that thing?_

He stood up and padded over to inspect the object held out to him closer.

 _It's just some weird metal tube. How is this a surprise?  
_ Lilli pointed the tube at the ground and suddenly, a red dot appeared.

Emil stared at it pointedly.

 _What is that? Is it alive? I should probably take a look..._

He hopped down from the bed and walked over to the dot, he attempted to lean down in order to sniff it, but before he could, it moved abruptly, shooting across the room.

 _Hey!  
_

The boy turned kitten chased after the mysterious dot.

 _Why is it running away!?_

He wound up chasing that dot around for a good hour while Lilli just sat in her chair with her metal tube thing and giggled nonstop, occasionally calling out in encouragement for Emil to catch the dot.

Once the kitten finally collapsed in exhaustion, Lilli put the metal tube thing away and the dot disappeared.

Only now did it click with Emil what he'd just been chasing around.

 _I just wasted all of my energy trying to catch a light. Why does shape shifting also require having cat instincts? Why?_

He pondered this miserably as he lay on his side on the carpet, panting.

As he watched Lilli walk out of the room, calling that she would be right back, Emil put his mind even harder to how exactly to get out of this situation.

He glanced up and saw Lilli's laptop on the desk, and he frowned slightly.

 _Maybe...I can pull off being a cat with a humans brain? I mean, she's naive enough to believe that I'm some sort of magical fairy._

He narrowed his eyes when he realized that, with all seriousness, he actually, legitimately _was_ a magical fairy.

 _Dammit._

He thought as he jumped up onto the desk chair and laid the pad of his paw to the computer mousepad.

He managed the mouse over to the word processor, and opened up a fresh word doc.

Just as Lilli came back in, Emil started very slowly typing.

"Icy! What are you doing?"

She leaned over to see the screen, and her mouth dropped open.

 ** _my name is emil_**

He wrote into the screen. The shift key was a bit to much of a challenge for him, as was proper punctuation, but he wasn't picky. It got the message across.

Lilli dropped the book she'd been holding and bent to examine the cat.

"W-What?"

Emil turned his attention back to the laptop, slowly working out typing with paws, bit by bit.

 ** _i am a fairy i live in the forest near where you found me_**

Lilli then promptly picked up the cat, sat down in the chair, and set him in her lap.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner!? I'm so sorry, little guy! I can't believe it, though! A really fairy?"

Emil pondered just what would get him home the fastest. At the very least, he'd likely wind up being here another day, since Lilli had school tomorrow, but if he could convince her, he could almost guarantee passage home by the next afternoon. As such, he targeted what he knew was one of the girls massive weaknesses.

 ** _my big brother is probably worried sick about me i've been missing for almost a month_**

Lilli gasped.

"You have a big brother? Oh, and I went and took you here! I'm so sorry, I...um...Emil?"

 ** _emil bondevik-stellison._**

"Wow. That's a mouthful." Lilli mumbled.

 ** _tell me about it my brother took our mothers name yet I took our fathers then he decided he wanted us to have the same last name, so he just stuck a hyphen in there_**

Lilli giggled. "That's so cute!"

Emil rolled his cat eyes, then tried to refocus on the issue at hand.

 ** _as nice as it's been staying with you can I go home now?_**

He stretched in order to reach the shift key at least once to put a question mark in there.

 ** _it's been a good vacation but i'm worried my brother will start a blizzard if I don't get back soon he is kinda overprotective_**

Emil knew that of course Lukas wouldn't start a blizzard, but hey, he couldn't help but be a bit dramatic.

Lilli nodded hurriedly.

"Of course! I'll take you right now! It's only a short walk to the forest, and Big Brother won't be home for another two hours!"

She then picked Emil up before he could reach for the keys again.

Because he wanted to tell her not to go out, it was dark already and he didn't want her walking in the city alone at this time of day.

To late though, were they walking through the city streets, Emil being toted in Lilli's arms.

He kept a constant watch, deeply worried that some thugs would emerge from a back alley or something else equally cliqué.

It turned out being much, _much_ worse.

He'd recognize those suits anywhere. Fiberglass black masks. Those weapons.

 _The labs!? Now!? Of all times they caught me now!?_

Emil began squirming in Lilli's arms until she finally let him down.

"What is...oh!" She shrieked at the sight of the approaching men.

"Girl, get away from here. That creature is dangerous."

All of these men wore combat uniforms that were exactly the same. Tight black long sleeves under bulletproof vests. Shin guards and knee pads settled over spandex clad legs. The phoenix symbol was on their masks, right in the center. A stark contrast from the coat wearing attacker with the blank mask who'd attacked Emil three weeks previous and gotten him into this entire mess.

"Dangerous!? He's a cat!" She bent and scooped up Emil again, folding him to her chest.

 _She wants to protect me?_

He looked up to her face before decided to play cat. Perhaps they could fool the men and avoid the conflict.

That is, until one of them leveled a weapon at her.

"Look, either get out of the way and leave that rat, or we'll take you with it."

Lilli responded to this by turning and attempting to run.

She managed to sprint down several streets and the forests were coming into view, when Emil saw one of the trucks came screeching out from the roads and into the grass.

Lilli screamed again as she backed away, onto to find her path blocked by more soldiers.

"You've made your loyalties clear. From now on, you're one of them."

The man sneered before raising his gun.

"GET DOWN!"

Emil shouted out as he engulfed them in white smoke, he threw it out as far as he could, surrounding them in fog. Runes burst from clawed paws and white-blue flares erupted everywhere like fireworks. Just this much outward magic was a struggle for the boy, but it gave them time and hid them from weapons for but a moment.

"E-Emil?" Lilli stuttered.

She let out a shocked gasp at the sight of a massive tiger baring it teeth as it stood to her defense.

Emil charged the men, swatting with hulking claws and gnashing his teeth.

Several of the soldiers scattered, and Emil turned about and snatched Lilli up in his jaws, biting through the ribbon sash of her dress to hold her firm. She dangled, bent double by the wrapping about her waist as Emil took off running towards the forest.

"Stop them!" The man shouted out.

It was to late, Emil shot into the underbrush and hurled Lilli up into the air. He'd performed this trick dozens of times with Li Xiang or Michelle while they were pulling a last minute escape. It was the easiest way for Emil to change forms without losing any momentum.

White smoke billowed again, and Emil felt his booted feet coming under him.

Lilli was screaming her lungs out as she dropped like a stone, and Emil came under her, catching her and lowering her to the ground. In one fluid motion he bent to bring her feet to the ground, snagged her arm, and dragged her with him.

"This way! Follow me!"

"Y-You're human!?" She cried out.

"Not exactly!" He replied as he spotted the root enwrapped rocks with the mammoth tree that cradled the boulders.

"In here! Go go go! Stay and don't make a sound!" He exclaimed as he thrust the girl into the hollow that led to the cave.

"What about you?" She cried out.

Emil forced his way halfway into the cave and gave Lilli a harsh push.

She slipped on the mossy ground and vanished into the small slide like passage that was still there.

 _Thank god._

Emil considered this as he pulled away.

He had to lead the soldiers a good distance from the Sanctuary. He didn't want to risk them coming anywhere close to his home.

For the next hour, he led the soldiers on a wild goose chase, switching forms constantly and tossing blue and white flares, the only magical attack he could do, straight behind him. He shouted taunts and, at long last, they were at the very far end of the forest, and Emil changed to his kitten form and leapt up into a tree.

The men chasing him went thundering beneath him, and Emil watched them go out into the city with intent of searching for him with a sigh of relief.

He shifted back into a humanoid and jogged all the way back to the Sanctuary entrance. Crawling in, he slid down the moss slick tunnel and dropped into the main area.

He was met with Lilli, seated curled up against the far wall, crying softly.

"Hey hey hey! Don't cry! It's fine, I'm ok, see?" Emil moved quickly over to her, pulling one of her hands away from her face.

Her cheeks were puffy with tears, and when she saw him, she threw her arms around him.

"I thought you were gone!"

Emil returned her hug with all the grace of a teenage boy who was trying to comfort a pretty girl who was crying.

That is to say, none whatsoever.

He then stood up, pulling Lilli to her feet, and made quick work of the pattern required to grant entrance.

He watched as the slab rose up, smiling softly.

 _Finally home._

He thought, relieved.

"This..." He turned to Lilli.

"Is the secret home of all of my species. I'm not quite a magical fairy. What I am is called a faye. I am actually half human, as is my older brother and most other people in here. Not all of them are faye, some...well, don't let their appearance scare you, ok? Not a single creature here would hurt you without prompting. Ok? Just...stay close to me until everyone knows you're friendly. We aren't exactly on the best terms with humans."

Then Emil pulled her under the slab, and out into the place he called home.

It was a relief to see it, in all of it's glory, still defending the people buried underground within it.

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: ...hmmm...**_

 ** _Allistor: Oh god, what is she planning now._**

 ** _Francis: Preserve us!_**

 ** _Arthur: Sorry, angel here, we're all screwed._**

 ** _Alfred: But we're sinners, remember?_**

 ** _Matthew: Well I wouldn't put it that way but...yeah._**

 ** _Arthur: Joking, you idiots. I was joking._**

 ** _Amethyst: I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT!_**

 ** _Peter: We did it! We did it! We did it!_**

 ** _Everyone: HOORAY!_**

 ** _Amethyst: I CAN JUST BLOW IT ALL UP!_**

 ** _Everyone: WHAT!?  
_**

 ** _Amethyst: *Whips out headphones, bag of cheetos, bottle of root beer, and magical laptop* SHUT UP! *Puts on headphones* I AM WRITING YOUR LIVES!_**

 ** _Peter: Aww...I wanted spoilers..._**

 ** _Romeo: But where's the fun in that? Anywho, hey readers! Thanks so much for getting us to 200 reviews! It's super exciting and we hope we can continue to entertain in the future! So please favorite, please follow, and please review! Ciao~_**


	25. Tag! No wings and no tails, though!

**_Here we go, please enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _The Sanctuary._**

"Wow..." Lilli whispered as she looked up into the twirling runes performing a mystical dance in the open air. Several blurs went shooting through, and Lilli focused on them to see two people who looked like angels flying from a third.

"Not gonna catch me, Iggy!"

"CALL ME THAT ONE MORE TIME AND I'LL BE SURE TO CATCH YOUR NECK, YOU BRAT!" The one doing the chasing roared.

"You should really try not to rile him up, Al." A quiet, barely audible voice warned.

"So what? It's pretty funny, isn't it?"

The quiet one shrugged, "I mean, I guess so."

Before Lilli could hear the rest of their conversation, a scream tore her attention away.

"EMIL!"

"Oof!" Emil got tackled, hard, in the stomach by several different people, he flailed for a moment before being knocked to the ground.  
"We were, like, freaking worried! Where the hell were you!?" Li Xiang screamed at him.

Michelle was just full out wailing with joy as she shook Emil's shoulders ridiculously fast. Mathias was jumping up and down and Emil was still lying on the ground with all the air knocked out of his lungs.

A few moments later, after Emil had finally gotten to his feet, an evil aura started permeating the nearby air.

"Eep!" Lilli squeaked at the sight of a furious looking man in a sailor outfit stalking towards them.

"Lukas...I can explain...I got attacked, ok! I didn't run off on purpose!" Emil exclaimed, only to then be seized by the arm by Lukas.

"We are going to find Francis."

Emil yelped as he was dragged off. "But I'm not hurt!"

"Don't care. You're getting checked up."

"Let go!"

"No."

"When did you gain super strength?"

"Around the same time I nearly had a heart attack over you going missing _again_."

Lilli watched the two of them walk off, Li Xiang tailing them, still yelling at Emil for vanishing, and frowned.

Mathias jerked a thumb in their direction. "Lukas is Emil's older brother, and he's way over protective. Anyway, Emil must have recruited you, so what type are you?"

"Yes, what species are you from?" Michelle questioned, looking interested.

Lilli swallowed hard.

"I'm...I'm human."

The two of them went strangely quiet, looked to each other, then looked back to Lilli again.

"Human? No...you can't be human. Emil wouldn't bring a human here."

Lilli shook her head.

"I saved his life, as he's told me! I chased off some of the lab men who attacked him while he was in kitten form, then took him home and helped him recover! But I didn't know he was actually a person, so I kinda adopted him as a pet...but once I discovered he was a person type thing I brought him here immediately!"

Mathias leaned back and crossed his arms, looking distraught.

"We'll have to ask Vali about this."

"Vali?" Lilli questioned.

Michelle nodded. "He, Toris, and Arthur decide who stays and who goes. Who's to be trusted. They found this place after all. Toris technically found it, but it was Valentin who started this all. Made this place into a home."

Lilli was complacent and allowed herself to be guided along through the display of magic and myth creatures, toward a hollow at the very far back of the cavern.

Within the hollow, a single young man was dozing in an armchair.

"Looks like he fell asleep again..." Michelle murmured, her head dropping to tilt to the side with a soft sheepish giggle.

Mathias groaned. "Suppose we'll have to wait until later..."

At that moment, the voices nearby seem to have roused the young vampiric, for he lifted his head off of where it was leaned against his fist and rubbed one blood red, lantern like eye.

"Hmm? Oh...another recruit?" He stood, and Lilli gulped, taking a step back as a pair of leathery black wings extended from his back, tips stretching upward as he stretched.

The brunette then extended his hand, which Lilli daringly managed to shake.

"Hallo, my name is Valentin Popescu, and apparently I'm one of the leaders here. I didn't ask for it, but here we are. So, what species might you be, dear?"

"It's just that, Vali." Michelle piped up.

Mathias sighed. "Yeah, apparently on his return trip, Emil thought it was a great idea to bring his human friend along. This is her."

Valentin's eyes darkened slightly.

"I thought we agreed not to allow humans into this place. It was preserved for our kind, we can't just open the door to random humans as well."

He snapped, looking slightly agitated, crossing his arms as he leaned back, a creak of leather sounding from his combat boots.

Lilli struggled with her voice before finally speaking.

"I-I...I saved Emil's life. He would have been killed by something he told me was called a lab soldier. I stopped them, and then nursed him back to health in my apartment. Thing is...I didn't know he was a person who could turn into a cat, so I sort of adopted him as a pet..."

Valentin's eyes narrowed, and for a single horrifying moment, Lilli thought he might lash out.

That is, before his laughter rang out as he leaned back, hands on his hips now. "You took Emil in as a pet!? Emil? Did he actually act like a cat, too?"

Lilli elected that replying would be the best course of action.

"Well...yes. I mean, he chased a laser pointer all around my apartment just earlier today."

Valentin was in hysterics now, and Michelle and Mathias both looked relieved. Valentin was a difficult man to read, a shy smile could mean he was plotting murder, and a furious glare could mean he was pulling a practical joke, just waiting for the punch line to sink in.

Truly, he was likely one of the the most dangerous people that occupied the Sanctuary, not to mention a powerful leader when the time came for him to take charge.

Valentin, at the moment, seemed to be satisfied, and nodded.

"I won't allow her to live here, but the way it sounds, it looks like she only needs to spend the night, then head back to her own home. Check in with Arthur for rooming, he's got all of that in a list somewhere. No clue how or why."

Mathias snickered.

"Erm, maybe you should get out of the shade, Vali, you've been saying you want to learn to stay up all day, right?"

Valentin stomped his foot.

"Tell that to my brain, which is telling me to be exhausted right now!"

Mathias rolled his eyes.

"Aurel is looking for you." He said.

"Really? Where is he? I told him this is where I'd be! I'll go find him!"

A swoosh of wind blew back Lilli's short dark blonde hair as Valentin took to the air.

Mathias snickered, "Too easy."

Lilli watched him sail upwards before beginning to circle a ways up, and looked over to Mathias.

"Sorry, but...who's Aurel?"

Mathias grinned brightly. "He's right over there." He pointed to a boy with strange, animal ear style hair strands pulled up to either side of his head, wearing a patched upon patched over old jacket over what appeared to be brand new clothes. He was currently chatting with some guy with cinnamon roll hair, and oddly disproportionate scaly limbs.

Michelle shook a finger up at the tall dane.

"I don't think that's what she meant!" She exclaimed, before turning kindly to Lilly.

"Aurel is Valentin's younger brother. They only recently reunited after being separated for...what was it?"

Mathias counted on his fingers.

"Five...six years?"

He scrunched up his brow as he considered this.

"Valentin was thirteen, and now he's nineteen, so yeah, six years."

Lilli looked awed. "How? Why would they stay apart for so long?"

Michelle started walking, Mathias still tailing along, as the islander spoke again.

"Well, their family home was attacked by vampire hunters when Valentin was thirteen and Aurel was six. Valentin ran out the front door, only to see their father had already been killed. He was so scared that he bit the first hunter who attacked him and drained him."

Lilli's eyes flicked back up to Valentin's still circling form, grasping at the sides of her neck in sudden fear.

"He drinks...human blood? Actual human blood?"

Michelle shook her head rapidly.

"Only ever in self defense does he do so. Because human blood to a vampire is like a drug. Once he drank, he went into a haze. He killed all twelve of the vamp hunters."

Mathias scoffed. "Not even close to how terrifying the fact is the Aurel killed three! The kid was six! _Six!"_

Michelle nodded in agreement before filling Lilli in.

"Valentin didn't know, but Aurel jumped from the back window and wound up killing the remaining three attackers. Another vampire found Aurel wandering the woods later on, so, to Valentin, Aurel was long dead. To Aurel, Valentin was long dead. That is, until Valentin found Aurel and his caretaker, Nicolae, wiped out in an alleyway."

Lilli listened in amazement as the two myth creatures accompanying her told her about several of the other myth creatures that lived here. That is, until, after a while of just wandering around, Mathias barked.

"AH-HA! There you are, Iggy!"

"Don't bloody call me that!" The blonde shouted back rudely before resuming his prior activity.

Which involved punching a certain life sprite frenchman in the face.

"God dammit, I swear to god, if you so dare to taunt my eyebrows one more time!"

"What eyebrows? I thought they were hamsters that had lost their plastic balls and taken residence in your face!" Francis shot back before using his height advantage to tackle the brit to the ground.

Lilli watched in pure shock as the two rolled about in the grass, still screaming petty insults.

That is, until they rolled their way right over and into a nearby pool of water that was randomly open to the air.

Michelle gasped as they vanished into the blue with a splash.

"I WAS SLEEPING YOU GITS!"

Lilli full on screamed at the appearance of a red head of hair donning a throughly soaked blue dress shirt with two white straps criss crossing his chest and looping over either shoulder.

He brutally hurled the two offending myth creatures up onto the grass before dragging himself up to sit on one of the rocks to the opposite side of the pool.

Lilli was reasonably sure her eyes popped from her skull for a moment when she saw the brown seals tail rapidly shedding water that made up the lower half of the scotsman.

Michelle burst into laughter.

"Allistor, why are you sleeping over here!?" Mathias shouted in astonishment.

Allistor waved a nonchalant hand.

"Because the damn kid is making a racket over where all of us take our pillows normally, flailing around in the water freaking out over how Wisteria hates him, says he's gonna run away and live with the dolphins."

Francis jumped up.

"Sacré bleu, I told that child not to use the word 'hate' so easily! And just when I thought peaceful tranquility was possible, dammit! I'll spread love to those brats, just you watch me! I'll be right back! WISTERIA! WHICH TREE DID YOU MELT INTO THIS TIME!?"

Francis took off running with one finger pointing to the sky, still soaking wet, as Arthur got to his hands and knees and, with a single snap of his shoulders, his jet black wings burst from the back of his jacket, shedding water.

Lilli thought she screamed again, but either she was imagining it, or everyone was just ignoring her by this point.

"Bloody frog..." He growled as he got to his feet and then snapped his head over to look at the red head still regarding them cynically.

"As for you! Could you not have stopped us _before_ we rolled into the water!?"

Allistor shrugged.

"Maybe I would have considered it if you hadn't dropped my fresh pack of menthols in the water last week!"

Arthur rolled his eyes as he removed his jacket, revealing a white tee shirt and a union jacket kerchief underneath. As he rung out his jacket, he looked back to Allistor.

"Smoking is awful for you! I refuse to allow you to continue with it! You said when you arrived you were trying to quit! I used to smoke as a teen, you know! And look at me now, I'm not even tempted!"

Allistor snorted. "You're concerned over my health? That's a new one. And I said I'd try and kick the habit, never said I'd go through with it."

"Allistor..." Michelle spoke up, and Allistor's dull, mossy green eyes focused on her.

"You did promise me you were going to quit, especially since the smell of that smoke makes me feel dizzy. Won't you give it another try? I'll help if I can, I understand it's difficult, but I really am worried about you."

Allistor's scowled and reached into his shirt pocket, producing two packs of cigarettes, sealed in a water proof bag.

He chucked them across the pool at Michelle, they bounced lightly off her chest and the girl caught them with a yelp.

"There, happy? I got none left on me now! And now I need to distract myself to stave off the god damn cravings, get someone who can air dry me!"

Michelle's eyes were practically sparkling and she nodded excitedly.

"Oh, thank you so much! I'll go find Lars!" She turned and sprinted off.

Arthur was dying from laughter behind his hand, and Mathias had his back turned to the selkie and was hunched over in a fit of giggles.

Allistor's face burned red with embarrassment.

"Dammit, shut up, some friends you are! I'm trying to give the habit the boot and you're laughing at me for it!?" He roared.

Arthur waved a hand, still trying to stop laughing. "N-Not that, mate...it's just...you're so obviously in her debt it's almost comical how easily you cave whenever she gives you those puppy dog eyes!"

Allistor turned red up to the ears.

"SCREW IT! I'M DONE WITH YOU ALL!" He dove back into the water and vanished.

A few seconds passed, and Michelle came jogging with with a flame haired young man with a strange scar on his face in tow.

She was surprised by the lack of scottish selkie's above water.

"Where'd Allistor go?" She asked.

Mathias snorted behind his hand. "He got all flustered and went swimming off."

"Ugh, so I got dragged out here for nothing! Next time make Arthur fly everyone around in circles to get dry!" The boy who'd just been brought by Michelle fumed.

Arthur put a hand out.

"Wait, wait, I do need an air dry! C'mon, mate!" He called.

Lars groaned. "All you've ever made me do since I got here was air dry people after they trip and fall into the water pools!"

Mathias raised an eyebrow.

"And in return you get a personal hollow, all the food you need, and unlimited access to all the knowledge known to us about our kind. Seems like a sweet deal to me."

Lars tossed his arms into the air in frustration.

"FINE!"

He swiped his hand behind him, two fingers extended, and a line of perfectly drawn, rippling sky blue and orange runes appeared.

"Tornado!" He barked.

A funnel of air appeared and Arthur was sucked directly into it.

He tumbled as if in a washing machine for the next few moments before Lars snapped his fingers, banishing the magic spell.

"Oy! A bit rough, ain't'cha!?" Arthur screeched.

"I'm sorry, want to go and get the _other_ wind whisperer? Oh yeah! That's right! I'M THE ONLY ONE HERE!"

The swede roared before he turned and sprinted off towards the meadow where some of the other children were at play.

Francis was currently yelling at a tree near said clearing, lecturing it on the power of love.

Unfortunately for him, Wisteria was sitting on the fountain nearby, watching the man yelling at the poor plant just out of earshot, appearing very confused.

Michelle then recalled the reason they'd sought out Arthur in the first place.

"Oh, Iggy!"

"Don't call me that, dammit!" Arthur snapped haughtily as he struggled to smooth down his unmanageable hair.

"Lilli is a human who gained permission from Valentin to spend a single night, since it would be unsafe for her in the streets at this hour. Is there anywhere she can stay?"

Arthur scratched his head for a moment as he thought this over before eventually shrugging.

"I don't want to dirty a hollow over a single night, so, perhaps you could round up the other girls and have her spend the night with them? Would you mind terribly if I put you in charge of that?"

Michelle perked up. "Oh, I wouldn't mind that at all! Slumber party!"

With this she seized Lilli by the hand and took off, excited to introduce her to the other girls of the cavern.

Mathias walked up to Arthur with a knowing look on his face.

"You've let more then one myth creature spend a single night, then leave only to return later. I doubt you have the same motive with her, though."

Arthur snickered. "You're smarter then you let on."

Mathias rolled his eyes. "Lukas makes everyone think I'm an idiot."

Arthur looked up at him, feinting shock. "You're not?"

"HEY!" Mathias barked, stomping his foot.

Arthur barked in laughter before looking back out to where Michelle had gathered Bella, a recent reaper recruit, Wisteria, and Mei Mei.

"You want someone to keep an eye on her. You don't trust a human in our home." Mathias guessed.

"Bingo."

 ** _The next month._**

Mathias was with Arthur once more, and was watching Lilli running around in the meadow with some of the younger kids, along with Aurel and Valentin, who was playful and had joined in the fun. Others were being roped into what was quickly becoming a cavern wide game of tag.

Rules? No using wings, no levitating, and no diving underwater. Other then that, everything was fair game, and at the moment Romeo was taking advantage of the loophole in the rules that made his teleporting legal.

After all, he wasn't flying, and wasn't underwater, so it counted, right?  
Right?  
Not according to Lars, who was currently it.

"Well, looks like your no humans rule fell out."

Arthur shook his head. "Only for Lilli. She's...kind. Kinder then any humans I've ever met that knew what I really was. She's fascinated by our abilities, and sometimes she is scared of us, but she doesn't hide those facts. She accepts us despite them. I...I think she's going to become a great friend to us all. Part of our family now, she is."

Mathias looked up to the runes twisting in the sky.

"It's been nearly six months since my group got here. Time flies when you're safe and warm, huh?"

Arthur nodded, smiling. "Sure does. I can't believe our lives have changed so rapidly. Perhaps...this could even work out, like, forever? Would you stay here forever, Mathias?"

The dane responded with a bright grin.

"Hey, you know where ever Lukas orders, I follow, but for a place like this...and with Lukas and the others here, safe. Knowing I won't wake up to Lukas screaming that soldiers are on our doorstep. It's a feeling I haven't had in a long time. So yeah. I'd stay here forever."

Mathias tucked his arms behind his head, grin never fading.

"Man, an actual home. This time last year I could never even consider the idea of staying in the same place for more then a month. Now, a place to stay for years and years. For the rest of my life? Sounds amazing to me."

Arthur nodded. "Me as well. Alfred and Matthew are everything to me, if you tell them that though I'll deny it."

He warned, point up at Mathias, who put up a hand and, with a chuckle, agreed he would not.

"They love it here, and they feel safe. That's all I need. As for Lilli..."

He looked out to the Swiss girl, who was currently running away from Lars, pulling a befuddled Kaiser along by the hand. She had a radiant smile on her face and was laughing so very hard, her cheeks were red from the exercise.

"...I think she needed a place like this. I get the feeling she felt very alone in the world above."

Lilli had made it her daily ritual, nearly every day after school, before her brother got home, she would come to the Sanctuary to visit. On the weekends, she'd lie to her brother and say she was spending the night at so-and-so from schools house and come racing here to spend the entire weekend with them. Everyone there loved Lilli, and they had readily accepted her into their safe place. Despite her being a human, her positive outlook and honest personality left them charmed.

Thus, a human had gained their trust. She now even knew the secret pattern necessary to unlock the puzzle at the front of the tunnel.

Arthur sighed and shook his head.

A human, trusted so much that she knew how to access the Sanctuary? Who ever would have thought?

"IGGY! GOT YOU!" Lars shouted suddenly, his hand striking Arthur lightly in the chest.

"Oy! Who ever said I was a part of this game? Get back here, you little bugger!"

Arthur took off running after Lars.

Mathias watched him chase the red head all about for a few minutes as the several others all proclaimed 'it' among whom were Sadik, Feliks, Gilbert, Peter, Ravis, Grant (Bella's older brother, also a reaper) and Matthew pursued their own personal targets. Matthew was currently zoned in on Michelle, who was dragging a half heartedly running Allistor behind her. His heavy black boots thudded against the grass as he was all but towed behind the islander by the hand.

"C'mon, we'll be caught if you don't go faster!" Michelle begged.

Allistor puffed before groaning. "Why do I have to be involved in this little kids game? I am made to swim, not run!"

Michelle laughed, "Don't you think this is even just a little bit fun?"

Allistor clicked his tongue before pouring on the speed, switching positions and pulling Michelle behind him.

"If you think it's so much fun, I guess I can put up with it!" He replied as they continued charging forward. At one point Allistor even stopped them, allowed Matthew to run right past them with too much speed, and took off in the opposite direction, Matthew letting out a dismayed cry before running after them again.

Arthur puttered to a stop in front of Mathias, leaning heavily on his knees, and glared up at him when Mathias spoke up.

"Out of gas already? Wimp!"

Arthur gave a breathy laugh.

"I suppose you could do better?"

Mathias jacked a thumb to himself.

"I hiked across the better part of this country, of course I could!"

Arthur planted his hand in the center of the blondes chest.

"Tag. You're it." He spoke before turning and taking off as Mathias instantly let out a shout and gave chase.

"Mathias is it! Mathias is it!" Romeo called out to warn everyone, who instantly added Mathias to the list of people they needed to avoid.

Danger was lurking just beyond the horizon, and soon members of this community underground would face the greatest challenges of their lifetimes.

But, for right here, for right now, the biggest threat of all was Lukas, who'd been tagged by Mathias, and was none to happy about being shoved so hard he tumbled from the edge of the fountain and into the drink.

"MATHIAS I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL END YOU!" Lukas roared as he came shooting after Mathias.

"Hey, Lukas! Don't be so narrow minded! Chase other people instead of Mathias, after all, you chase Mathias around all the time! Eep!" Tino cried this out before the semi solid Sadik came racing up after him, Sadik was performing the movements of running, but everyone there could agree it didn't really look like he was touching the ground. More like he was phasing his feet _through_ it.

Lukas crossed his arms, still soaking wet, and now red in the face from exertion, before a tornado enveloped him, causing him to go flying into the air and land soundly on his rear.

"You're welcome! ACK!" Lars was being sarcastic, that is, before Lukas came chasing after him with intent on returning the favor, causing Lars to jump about a foot in the air before he made a run for it.

Yes, for now, the cavern was filled only with laughter, a playful environment chock to the brim with myth creatures who were willing to savor this day.

A golden ray, in what was soon to become a dark future.

* * *

 ** _Amethyst: There's your sunshine and sparkles chapter._**

 ** _Valentin: Why sparkles?  
_**

 ** _Feliks: Yeah, why not sprinkles?_**

 ** _Toris: But sprinkles are what you put on cake or ice cream._**

 ** _Arthur: And cupcakes!_**

 ** _Everyone : ...ok then..._**

 ** _Hercules: Who is to say sprinkles are not sparkles? Who is to say sparkles cannot become sprinkles? If the limits of your physical being are allowed to bind you, then who is to say, that you never did deserve to exist physically in the first place? To become a true contributor to a society of thieves, does this pertain to your own sins? Or could it possibly mean..._**

 ** _Sadik: *Sighs* Great. Hercules has slipped into his philosophical mode. Someone get some sweet food!_**

 ** _Peter: *Offers candy bar*_**

 ** _Hercules: *Blinks* Oh...thanks. *Eats candy bar*_**

 ** _Feliks: No, wait, I'm not done here, why can't we use sprinkles? They are, like, so totally fabulous!  
_**

 ** _Aurel: But couldn't you argue that certain types of sprinkles sparkle?_**

 ** _Valentin: Well, how about..._**

 ** _Amethyst: *Interrupts* We are not going to fill this session with an argument over the difference between sparkles and sprinkles._**

 ** _Alfred: Small issue. Already did. That's about time._**

 ** _Amethyst: REALLY!? WE'VE HAD SOME PRETTY POINTLESS CONVERSATIONS, BUT REALLY!?_**

 ** _Everyone: Sorry._**

 ** _Amethyst: *Face palm* It's fine...just...Allie, do the stupid thing._**

 ** _Allistor: Why should I listen to you? And don't call me Allie!  
_**

 ** _Amethyst: *Irritated glare*_**

 ** _Allistor: 'Allo everyone! Thank you all SO VERY MUCH for reading! We all REALLY APPRECIATE the support! PLEASE DO favorite, follow, and review! THANKS AGAIN!_**

 ** _Arthur: Could you be anymore fake, ALLIE?_**

 ** _Allistor: Shut the hell up, IGGY._**

 ** _Arthur: ...touché._**


	26. Of new missions and shattered kneecaps

**_All dark futures begin with a dark flashback! Enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _The next day._**

"Oy, Romeo!" Arthur was searching about the cavern for the young teleporting italian

"Si?" Romeo suddenly appeared in a flash of green in front of the fallen angel.

"BLOODY HELL!"

Arthur shrieked this, stumbling backwards with pinwheeling arms before putting a hand to his heart.

"Please don't do that right in front of me!" He ordered sternly, looking faint.

Romeo was hiding his laughter behind his hand, but even so, he nodded.

"Yes, sir!" He gave a two fingers salute.

Arthur exhaled, then shook his head and straightened up again.

"I think it's about time you came on a recruiting mission with us. According to Lilli, who's been working together with the faye, she's discovered a place of compacted magic energy. Dozens of myth creatures, all in one spot."

Romeo furrowed his brow. "It didn't show up in the tome?"

The all seeing book had always been able to pick up traces of myth creatures within city limits before.

Arthur raised a finger to accent this. "That's just it. It's outside city limits, far up-state. We'll be flying out this afternoon to arrive by night fall. All five of the faye are coming, as are me and my brothers. We'll also be bringing Wisteria, since we'll be deep in the forest and she'll be of use. Other then that, do you have any other suggestions?"

Romeo let out a startled gasp.

"M-me? But I never go on recruiting missions! You always said it was too dangerous since I can't fight for myself!" Romeo exclaimed.

It was true Arthur was very strict on who came on missions. Only myth creatures who could either fly or move incredibly fast were permitted to come, and only if they also had the ability to fight for themselves. Romeo was no fighter, as Lovino had always said 'the Vargas's are cowards, but we're really good at running away'.

This came from their teleporting talents, which seemed to manifest every generation since it was infused into their line.

"Because you can teleport. Going outside of our comfort zone into unknown territory, someone who can get a birds eye view in a snap, then come back down to us with equal speed, is a keystone to our plan. You'll stick to us like glue, though. No using your abilities unless we either tell you too, or you're about to get shot. Got me?"

Romeo nodded excitedly.  
"Got it, got it!" He cheered.

He then spun once on his heel and cried out. "I'll go grab my backpack!" Before racing off towards the ladder to climb up to his hollow.

Contrary to Lovino's belief, Feliciano had always told Romeo to use his body before his teleporting. Odd concept coming from a man who teleported whenever he so much as needed to move ten feet, but still. When things got rough, Feliciano always tried to put others first, despite being far more easily frightened then Lovino.

Romeo swallowed hard as he thought back to when he'd last seen his brothers, climbing up the ladder to his fourth level hollow slower then usual.

 _"Dammit, they a-caught onto us! Go, go!"_

 _The forests of the wilds of Virginia were thick, and the air was sharp with the last remains of the winters cold, and perfumed with the smell of the early blooming wildflowers._

 _To Romeo, at the time only eleven years old, it was nothing short of hell._

 _His brothers were seven and nine years his seniors, respectively, Lovino being the oldest of their trio. Romeo felt his foot catch on a root as he ran and screamed as he fell forward._

 _His knee struck a rock, and he cried out in pain._

 _"Fratello!" He shrieked, his voice pitchy as the boots of the men chasing them grew closer, pounding down the underbrush in a relentless march._

 _"Fratellino!" Feli was at his side, his normally squinted shut eyes were wide open, displaying a dirty gold, flecked with shades of amber._

 _"You idiota! You tripped on a damn root? We're in the forest, pick your feet up!"_

 _Romeo felt tears pouring down his face._

 _"It hurts! I can't stand up!"_

 _Lovino blanched slightly, then let out a dismayed yell before gripping Romeo's arm._

 _"Feli!"_

 _"R-Right!" The younger exclaimed, seizing his other arm._

 _An explosion of smoke, Lovino's being red and Feliciano's being white, they teleported. The familiar sensation of his stomach being left behind surrounded Romeo._

 _When they solidified, they were in a nearby clearing._

 _"Get up, Romeo! Now!" Lovino hauled Romeo to his feet._

 _The boy attempted to put weight on his bad knee, only to have his leg buckle under him._

 _He gave a pained sob, his throat catching his words and spewing then up half formed._

 _"Fratello...it hurts...I can't walk..."_

 _Lovino shook his head.  
"Yes you damn well can! You'll keep walking, do you hear me?" _

_Romeo stared up at his brother in shock._

 _Lovino was only a few months shy of being a full ten years older then Romeo, he was currently awaiting the arrival of his twenty-first birthday in March. Feliciano wrapped his arms around his younger brother, pulling an arm over him._

 _"Can we a-port again?" Feliciano suggested._

 _"No way! There's only so many times Romeo can survive it! He's to young to be moving such distances!"_

 _"If we go short, then?" Feliciano pressed._

 _"He can't do it another time, we already wasted most of his stamina for it with the last one to save our asses!"_

 _He then got a far away look in his deep, mossy green eyes._

 _The oldest italian got to his knee in front of Romeo, whom Feliciano had lowered to the grass._

 _"You know how Feli and I will teleport straight up? You've seen us do it a-before, right?"_

 _Romeo nodded hurriedly, still struggling to stop crying._

 _The man wiped his tears away with his thumbs before speaking again._

 _"Go as high as you a-can. Then move backwards. They don't know a-we can teleport yet, so I want you to go as high as your body can handle the instant they break through the a-trees. Then try to get back to the town we just left. One step at a time. One port at a time. Crawl if you have too."_

 _Romeo shook his head, trying to get up again.  
"No! What about you!? You'll come with me, right? Right?"_

 _Lovino looked up to Feliciano with a desperate look on his face._

 _Feliciano bent next to his little brother as well._

 _"Fratellino, we'll be ok. As long as you're ok, we're both fine. So take care of yourself first. Don't worry about us."_

 _Romeo threw his arms around Feliciano._

 _"No! I won't go! You're going to try and lead them away! You can't keep teleporting either! Once they see you, they'll realize it and keep on coming until you get exhausted!"_

 _Feliciano patted his sobbing young brother on the back.  
"Please, don't be upset."_

 _Feliciano pulled him away and gave him two fingered salute and a bright smile, winking.  
"Always be happy, it makes life easier! Take it from me!" _

_Romeo didn't miss the tears at the corners of his eyes.  
"Lovi!" He turned to the oldest._

 _"I won't let you give yourselves up! Don't fight them, please!"_

 _Lovino gritted his teeth before raking a hand through his hair, causing his wayward curl to bob. The hair curls were a Vargas family trait._

 _"Idiota, you know the way we work. We Vargas's are cowards. We don't fight, we're the top of our class at running away."_

 _The boots stomping cut off whatever further argument Lovino was about to present._

 _Pressed by time, Lovino merely took the young boys face in his hands and pressed a kiss to both cheeks before hugging him tightly.  
"Be well, Fratellino."_

 _He whispered before standing up and walking calming towards the opening of the forest._

 _Feliciano gave the frozen Romeo two kisses as well, before jumping up._

 _"Fratello, wait for me!" He called out in far to happy a voice._

 _Far to forced._

 _Romeo looked over his shoulder, tears pouring freely down his face all over again, watching his brothers look back to him._

 _Lovino clicked his tongue and pointed to the sky, while Feliciano grinned, squinted his eyes, and waved._

 _"Go on, we want to see a-you fly!"_

 _Romeo hiccuped before he shakily got up, favoring his good leg._

 _"I-I...Ti amo!" He spat out the words, before in a crack of green, his personal smoke erupted around him._

 _The world spun rapidly, and when he solidified, he was air born._

 _Using a trick of movement, the laws of physics stated that an object in motion stayed in motion. Therefore, throwing himself upward with his powers as hard as possible resulted in him shooting for the sky like he'd been shot from a cannon._

 _As gravity fought to bring him down again, Romeo dared it, and looked down._

 _His brothers were fighting. White and red smoke covered the clearing as they teleported to and fro, delivering punches and kicks the best they could before they started to run. Two specks donning blue and tan, racing away, calling taunts behind them. The force gave chase, not caring that the smallest of the trio was missing._

 _Before he could go into a free fall, Romeo teleported again, carrying his body back to the town they'd only just left._

 _Manipulating the mass of his body to his will, the boy landed himself lightly next to the road that led into town._

 _He didn't know what made that wailing noise, until he recognized the burning in his throat and realized he was screaming._

 _Sobbing, crying, pounding the ground with his weak fists. To weak to have stood beside his brothers, only to have them give up their freedom, perhaps their lives, so that he might kneel here in the grass, out of harms way._

 _The tears sparkled as they dropped from his face and into the grass, as Romeo howled his anguish out to the bright blue sky. The gorgeous day, with beautiful clouds, teased from him thoughts of long ago times in Italy, before their modest farm had burnt, before they'd run away faster then anyone could have imagined three young men could run._

 _His hands hurt from how hard he beat the soil with them, as he wished desperately for the familiar call of his brothers, for soothing arms to wrap around him and coax him awake around a cooling camp fire. It was just a nightmare, idiota. Everything is alright. How desperately he wished for someone to come, to tell him everything was alright._

 _But nothing was alright. It was all wrong. His life was shattered, completely beyond fixing, and now that he was here, bowed over in the grass with his forehead pressed into the dirt, he knew it._

 _Nothing would ever be alright again. Not with Lovi and Feli gone, not with his family, his last vestiges of his former life to cling too._

 _He was alone. Floating, was he? Felt more like a free fall. Plummeting into a trap set by cruel, power hungry men who wished they were born different._

 _Romeo cursed how he and his brothers had been born different. Anything, right now, any disability, any amount of pain, so long as it could be diagnosed by a doctor, so long as it was known to be human, would have been better then the ability to vanish upon command. To have magic weaving through his veins and wrecking havoc upon his DNA. To twist the most basic of scientific laws and rewrite them all to his own advantage._

 _Though the woman who eventually found him, with a broken knee, on the ground, sobbing like his heart had just been broken, could never know these things._

 _To her, he was just an ordinary boy._

 _But when he vanished from his hospital room, after the gash on his knee had been stitched, but before he could be properly casted, it was made rather clear._

 _He was anything but ordinary._

 _Oh, how he loathed that fact._

* * *

 ** _Amethyst: Oh, theres that angst you were all looking for._**

 ** _Peter: You're scary!_**

 ** _Amethyst: Hey, not my fault Romeo has a horrible past._**

 ** _Kiku: As a matter of fact, it actually is your fault. You see, fellow myths, she is manipulating this entire world. She could just as easily destroy our home, our lives, our entire existence. It is her play thing. I, for one, believe we should not stand for it! I say we stand up against the authors of this worlds tyranny! Strike them with powers they themselves have granted us, for I believe... *Muted*_**

 ** _Everyone: Amethyst..._**

 ** _Amethyst: *Glances up from magical laptop* What? Do you think I want an uprising. Also, don't forget my whole 'I am Phoenix, life incarnate' speech, please._**

 ** _Feliks: Wait a minute...Phoenix? *Gasp* YOU CREATED THE LABS!_**

 ** _Everyone: *Facepalm*_**

 ** _Toris: Feliks. She created this entire universe. So yes, she created the labs as well._**

 ** _Kiku: *Waving arms around unable to talk*_**

 ** _Amethyst: *Sighs* Fine._**

 ** _Kiku: *Unmuted* RISE UP FELLOWS SO WE MAY DEFEAT THE.. *Muted*_**

 ** _Amethyst: *Looks back to laptop* Never mind._**

 ** _Sadik: What up!? Yeah, so that was crazy and all, like, absolutely nutzo! But, like, thanks for the hanging around! Please favorite, follow, and review! Bye! *Vanishes into smoke and slips into Emil's ear*_**

 ** _Emil: NEVER AGAIN GET OUT OF MY HEAD!_**


	27. Rather unconventional forms of travel

_**Continuing!**_

* * *

 ** _Upstate New York._**

"Wa-hoo!"

"ALFRED!"

Said fallen angel was swooping around doing loop-de-loops like a mad man, and it was rather worrisome, considering an eleven year old girl was his cargo.  
"I WANNA RIDE WITH TINO! LET ME RIDE WITH TINO!" She wailed, pounding into Alfred's chest with her fists.

Lukas blew at his bangs which were all to annoying with the wind blowing about them, up high in the skies. He cradled his brother, in kitten form, in his arms, while Mathias held Lilli bridal style.

The human girl had done work for them that the myth creatures couldn't even begin to comprehend how to thank her for. She wanted to be a technology major, and her hacking skills were shockingly good for such an adorable teen. She was currently swiping through her phone, as if the fact that she was at around 10,000 feet about sea level didn't bother her.

The thing was, by now, it didn't.

She was far to used to being toted around by various winged creatures.

Back to her work for them, she'd finally discovered a loophole in the labs.

Among these things was something fascinating.

Her older brother was a number cruncher, basically like the player who's the treasurer in monopoly. The amazing thing was he was a worker at Phoenix Laboratories. This world wide company made everything from aerospace tech to kitchen appliances to the latest fashion in clothes. They extended into every possible market, and Vash was only one of millions of their workers that didn't know about their underground projects.

Lilli took advantage of her brothers position, albeit shamefully, she often asked to borrow a computer to do 'schoolwork' on since they didn't have a desktop in her home. Vash's coworkers fell for her high pitched voice, innocent little smiles, and bright doe eyes. No one could ever expect she was secretly burning files and cracking encryptions for hours during her brothers work in the weekends.

Among these files, many of which the workers at the office had no idea even existed, were useless. Pages of numbers and experiment results. But this time, Lilli had come up with a gem.

The location of one of the labs. One of the actual, honest to goodness labs where myth creatures were held and experimented upon. Lukas had flown out here when Lilli had discovered this, and had used his abilities to rune scan the area.

Dozens upon dozens of magic energy signatures showed up. All of them concentrated in one spot.

Which is why they were flying out here now.

"Aii-yah! We there yet, aru?" Yao grumbled as he crossed his arms, currently being born through the air by Arthur.

Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Will you please shut up? We'll get there when we get there!" Arthur replied testily.

Yao, along with the twins Hyung Soo and Yong Soo, were also coming along. Manly to cause chaos and set things on fire, because if the time came where they'd need a distraction, the dragon spawn could do it best.

"THE AWESOME ME DOES NOT LIKE BEING CARRIED AROUND! GO FASTER, BIRDIE!"

"G-Gil, we have to stay with the group..."

"DOES IT SOUND LIKE A CARE!?"

There was also the small addition of Gilbert and Ludwig. Ludwig was currently flying with Berwald, and Gilbert was shouting at Matthew.

The demon spawn could light hellfire on command, not to mention they could change forms, banishing horns and tails in their human form for something far more horrifying.

Gilbert was more of a darkness and shadows type, he could even teleport from shadow to shadow, or simply sink into them and loose himself in the murk. Ludwig really excelled in controlling his hellfire, but Gilbert was just a loose cannon. His true form was actually far more horrifying then Ludwig could ever hope to be.

Lilli suddenly let out a sharp gasp.  
"Oh! Down! We're here!"

The winged dipped rapidly finally coming to a smooth landing in the woods.

Wisteria hit the ground, ran, and hugged the nearest tree.

"Oh, I missed you, baby." She mumbled.

Emil took on his human form and crossed his arms skeptically.

"Are you talking to that specific tree? Do you know it?"

Wisteria gave him a glare.

"I know every tree. They all share a base spirit that I can commune with. Shh, don't be scared, they won't hurt you...what was that?"

She turned to the group.  
"They say that someone has been logging a lot here recently. They cleared a massive area to the north a little ways, then stopped abruptly. They also say something unnatural has been built nearby."

Lilli held up her phone.

"According to my data, as well. The lab should be nearby."

The girl tucked her phone into the pocket of her signature pink pleated dress, head whipping to look back with dark blonde hair slightly awry from the wind. Her beloved bluish purple hair ribbon, a gift from her older brother, was forever present.

"Can your tree friends show us the way?"

Wisteria nodded eagerly.  
"Of course they can! They say it's this way." Wisteria waved for them to follow her.

The small party proceeded into the deeper woods, and Wisteria seemed happy to be among her element once more.

Yong Soo raised his hand just then.

"Yes?" Arthur called on him as if they were in a classroom.

"What exactly are we doing here?" Yong Soo questioned.

Hyung Soo scoffed. "Obviously, idiot, we're scoping out the place in order to find a way to bring it down."

Yong Soo pouted. "I thought we were gonna bring it down now!" He whined. "That depends." Lukas spoke up, his eerie voice sent shivers up both of the twins spines.

"If this place is lightly guarded and seems easy enough to take down, then yes, we will be liberating it today, on this very trip. However, if it appears to be heavily fortified, then we'll be returning home tomorrow morning. Then we'll return with more powerful myth creatures such as the Sons of Apollo, perhaps Valentin, Nico, and Aurel. If Sadik feels up to the journey he would prove very useful."

The twins nodded their agreement to the plan, and just then did the walls come into view.

They were about thirty feet tall, and to the myth creatures crouched in the underbrush, it was a small obstacle.

Either way, it wasn't to be scaled at once.

"This is it?" Arthur demanded of the lone human.

Lilli nodded, checking her phone again.

"Sure is. The files I stole say that this is the place. Over thirty myth creatures are being held here."

Lukas exhaled slightly when Arthur put the attention on him with a glance  
"I can confirm that. The amount of magic in that building is roughly half of the population of the Sanctuary. Therefore, yes, I'd estimate about thirty myth creatures."

Mathias stood up already raising two fingers in preparation to manifest wings.

"So? We're heading up again to get a better look?"

"No!" Tino jumped up.

Everyone stared at him in confusion.

Tino instantly started tapping his pointer fingers together as he mumbled the rest of his idea.

"Maybe Romeo should go up with like Wisteria or something that way if something goes wrong we won't have to worry about being shot down because Romeo can teleport...y'know?"

Romeo grinned brightly as he jumped to his feet.

"I'm in!"

Arthur nodded his consent.

"Just, you two, don't you dare go down there, go up there, see whats going on, and come back down. You're to do nothing else, understand?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Wisteria and Romeo saluted comically before Romeo hugged Wisteria from behind.  
"Going up!"

They vanished in a burst of green.

Romeo materialized them a foot above the top of the walls, and they dropped with ease to land on the stonework. Both dropped to their stomachs to avoid being spotted as they gazed into the field.

Myth creatures donning drab jumpsuits wandered the small area, it was patched with grass, and a sorry excuse for a swimming pool, half dried up, was set to the far corner.

Wisteria looked down to all the hopeless faces with a frown inset to her face.

"Look at all of these poor people. We have to get them out! The walls aren't swarming with guards, and as far as I can see, the only guards are the ones protecting the entrance back inside."

Wisteria huffed, "Why aren't these guys just escaping on there own? You're telling me no one down there can fly?"

She shook her head in irritation. "Let's head back down."

Wisteria latched onto Romeo's arm, prepped to teleport.

Nothing.

"Romeo? Are you ok?"

Something wet struck the stone, exploding with a burst of shards, like miniature crystals.

Tears slipped down tanned cheeks as Romeo covered his mouth with his hand to avoid sobbing.

"Romeo! Are you ok? What is it? What's wrong?"

Romeo shook his head slowly.

"N-Nothing...in fact...things are...right. For once, this is right."

He raised a shaking hand and pointed down to two figures leaning on the wall nearly directly below them, shaded from the harsh afternoon sun.

"Them...down there..."

Wisteria squinted down at the duo, and her eyes went wide.

One had sun kissed skin, and a set of better hair curls could never have been created on purpose.

"Are those..." She dared to guess.

Romeo nodded hard before opening his mouth, and two words croaked out of a constricted throat.

 _"Feli...Lovi..."_

* * *

 ** _Amethyst: I have been attacked!_**

 ** _Alfred: *Runs over* By what!? *Looks around* What!?_**

 ** _Amethyst: WRITERS BLOCK *collapses*_**

 ** _Everyone: DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUN_**

 ** _Valentin: It was pretty obvious. You used to update every other day or so. It's been over a week._**

 ** _Amethyst: I CAN'T THINK FOR THIS FANDOM RIGHT NOW!_**

 ** _Hinata: Are you too busy with ours?_**

 ** _Kageyama: Dumbass, we aren't even IN Hetalia._**

 ** _Yamaguchi: Is our third season distracting you? I'm sorry!_**

 ** _Tsukishima: Shut up, Yamaguchi._**

 ** _Yamaguchi: ...sorry, Tsukki._**

 ** _Nishinoya: Wow, we just crossed between dimensions! AWESOME!  
_**

 ** _Asahi: I think this goes a bit further then 'entering before you debut' don't you?_**

 ** _Amethyst: I LOVE YOU ALL BUT SHOO I WILL GET BACK TO YOU GUYS LATER!_**

 ** _Hinata: Awwwwwww but I wanna hang out with countries!_**

 ** _Amethyst: They aren't even countries in this, Shrimp. Go away. Daichi. Control your children._**

 ** _Daichi: Why me?_**

 ** _Amethyst: Because Suga isn't here._**

 ** _Daichi: Fair enough KARASUNO AWAY!_**

 ** _Volleyball Morons: *Vanish*_**

 ** _Feliks: I...wha...huh?_**

 ** _Amethyst: Don't mind it. Now then, how about...I dunno...eni, mini, miny, moe, I choose you!_**

 ** _Lilli: Huh? O-Oh, ok! I'll try! Everyone please favorite, follow, and review! Also give the author some leeway, because she's trying very hard to keep up with updates! Thank you all so very much for reading!_**


	28. Wait, what?

_**I love you guys so much you're all super supportive even when I'm dying from writers block I finished the next chapter so here it is!**_

* * *

 ** _The Lab in Upstate New York._**

"Of all...all the places...they're right down there...right there..."

Romeo reached down over the edge of the wall towards the duo, who didn't notice him, suspended so far above him upon the brickwork.

A small hand latching onto his elbow halted him.

"I understand you're shocked. You want to get them out this moment."

Romeo choked on his emotions, but managed a nod.

Wisteria, with gently, patient hands, drew the italian away from the edge of the wall, his brothers vanishing from sight.

"C'mon...let's go talk to Arthur. Tell him your brothers are here. He and Lukas will make a plan, and together we'll get everyone out. It's not worth jumping down there right now only for us to get captured as well. Ok?"

Romeo looked back over the edge to gaze down at Feliciano and Lovino right there.

 _Right there._

So close, and yet they may as well be across the world.

Because first and foremost, Romeo had to follow whatever loose chain of command had been established. Speaking to Arthur before busting in would result in a far higher chance of success with a rescue then simply leaping down there right now.

Sniffing up his tears, Romeo refocused on their original goal, liberating the lab.

After all, if the lab was destroyed, his brothers would be freed. They'd been trapped here for a year, it seemed, they could survive a few more hours.

As such, Romeo wrapped his arms around Wisteria in an earnest hug.  
"Thanks. I would have jumped in if you hadn't said something." He mumbled before green smoke plumed from the top of the wall.

They solidified a few yards from the group, and Romeo sprinted up to Arthur at once.  
"My brothers! They're in there!" He exclaimed, grinning like a loon.

"Wh-What?" Arthur yelped, looking beyond shocked.  
Yong Soo pounced on Romeo's back.

"You mean the same ones who defended you a year back? The ones you told me and Hyung about?" He asked, hopping excitedly.

Romeo smiled over his shoulder at the korean currently dangling from his neck, having locked his legs around Romeo's waist.  
"Yes! Yes! Feli and Lovi!"

Wisteria stepped up with her bit of information.

"Not to mention that the walls are lightly guarded...I'm worried of some other defense in place, otherwise it doesn't make sense that Romeo's brothers haven't yet escaped. They possess the same abilities as Romeo, and according to him, they're better at teleporting then him!"

Wisteria tossed her arms up.

"Why wouldn't they just pull that trick where they teleport straight up and then aim for a nearby meadow? There has got to be another reason that they're staying."

Everyone had circled around by now, and nods were given by each member of the small party.

"So, what do we do, Arthur?" Romeo asked quickly. He wanted to get his brothers out of there as quickly as possible.

Arthur looked up to the sky.

"I...have an idea. It's a bad one, but it'll work...if I can time it just right."

Exhaling, Arthur glared up into the blue skies before turning to Lilli again.

"How long did it take us to get here?"

Lilli glanced to her phone again.

"Around four hours. Flying as fast as we did."

Arthur nodded several times.  
"When does the sun set?"

Lilli yet again produced her phone.

"It says that sunset will be at 7:42 PM."

Arthur accepted this information into his head and nodded several times, frowning.

"Then we attack at midnight."

Yao rolled his eyes. "Why, for dramatic effect, aru?"

Gilbert clapped his hands. "More shadows for me!" He grinned.

Ludwig had his arms crossed over his chest as he spoke up.

"So you wish for us to attack when the advantage is all ours, correct? During the night it would be safer and easier to fight."

"Speak for yourself!" Wisteria grumbled.

Arthur pointed to Ludwig. "That's part of it, but...no, never mind. Yes, that's it, Ludwig. We'll hunker down until then, as well as recon the lab from the air to try and get an idea of where to enter."

Agreement was given from everyone, and soon enough Romeo was seated in the shade of a tree, waiting for the hours to tick by.

Wisteria looked up to him worriedly, for she was seated at his side.

"You and your brothers. Are you close?"

Romeo gazed forlornly up at the walls. Just within them resided his brothers. Yet he couldn't go and free them after so many months of captivity.

At least, not yet. Just a few hours more. Just a few hours more.

"Very." Romeo managed this one word reply after a few seconds.

Wisteria attempted a comforting smile. Being a good friend wasn't one of her best assets, but she was willing to try.

"We'll get them. It's only for the rest of the day. If they've survived in there for a year, then they can handle five more hours, right?"

Romeo mentally commanded himself not to choke up again.

"You're right. They can hang on for a little while longer."

 ** _Midnight._**

Romeo was practically buzzing with excitement as Arthur handed out everyones personal missions.

"Demon Spawn and Dragon Spawn, head for the front gate. Then raise hell, literally."

Arthur said this with a nod to the germans.

"Fire balls, shadow monsters, make it as hectic as possible. Mathias, Tino, and Berwald with accompany you as fighters. You three need to beat up any soldiers that come their way. In general, just create as much chaos as you can."

"You got it, boss!" Mathias cried, saluting with a reckless grin.

Arthur crossed his arms.

"My brothers and I will focus on swooping myth creatures out of the yard and outside the walls. Wisteria, I need you tunnel under the wall with Emil and Romeo. Then make as many other tunnels as you can. After that, the three of you head into the building and send all of the myth creatures in there outside. Tell them to head for the tunnels, or be ready to get swooped up and over. Lilli, you serve as a guide outside the walls, once people start emerging, tell them whats up, where the Sanctuary is, and to get moving. Scattering is our best chance that more people to make it home. Everyone got it?"

No one gave protest.

Arthur clapped his hands twice, appearing satisfied.  
"Well then, chaps. Let's liberate a prison."

 ** _The back wall._**

Wisteria noted easily the amount of screaming and laughing coming from the front wall, while Emil grumbled under his breath about Mathias getting to excited.

The small girl then stepped up to the wall, raised up both hands, and murmured.

"Alright, trees, I need you to help me out."

The nearby trees started growing at an intense rate, their roots protruding from the ground as green sparkles filled the air around the brunette girls form.

She thrust both hands towards the wall, and the roots instantly started ripping away cement and burrowing into the soil.

Wisteria opened her eyes and looked back to her two comrades.

"All clear!" She exclaimed, leading the way under the wall. The roots had formed struts to keep the walls from collapsing on top of them. As they scrambled up, they found the outer yard deserted.

"Let's go, go, go!" Romeo gestured frantically towards the door.

The trio ran across to said door.

"Back off!" Emil took the lead and white smoke spiraled all around him.

A monstrous roar escaped as he bashed down the massive steel double doors.

Once inside, the faye shrank back down to human form.

"Which way?"

He demanded as they looked out to the three hallways.

Wisteria looked back and forth before groaning.

"Arthur didn't think of how big this place was! Ok! Emil goes straight, I'll go left, and Romeo goes right! Hurry!"

They all sprinted off down the passages.  
Romeo came across a large block of cells, and set to work teleporting in and out, pulling myth creatures free.

"Go straight down this hallway, the first turn to come to take a left! Run to the outdoor yard and go through the tunnels we've built under the walls! My other friends are all ready to help you!" He exclaimed as he pulled the prisoners free. The entire time he searched for his brothers, and was met with no success.

Emil performed a similar action. He discovered a cell block and started ripping down doors, giving the same message.

Wisteria, on the other hand, found her flip flops echoing on the tiles through empty halls.

 _No ones here...I can't hear anyone either..._

She thought in confusion as she turned another corner.

There she was met with a horrific sight.

Romeo's brother, one of them, she didn't know which, was strapped to an X shaped metal piece, ankles and wrists secured. She couldn't hear it, but she could see he was screaming his lungs out as several scientists operated a peculiar machine. The machine was made entirely of a dull gray metal. It had a single large cone shape protruding from the front and pointed to the italian myth creature. It was ended with a large silver ball and several spiraling strands of metal that returned back to the machine. Wisteria took this all in through a viewing window that made up part of the wall of the room, next to the thick metal door. Currently, the device appeared to be draining something from the imprisoned man, drawing out small strands. He was still fighting it, so it didn't seem to be taking full effect just yet.

Wisteria intended to make sure it never would.

She raised her fist and punched the air in front of the door. Her arm extended into a wooden ram that broke down the barrier for her.

She shot into the room and didn't hesitate to form whiplike tendrils with both arms. Created of green jungle vines, she whipped them about, slamming the scientist into the walls, where they slid to the ground, unconscious. Finally, Wisteria brought both arms up and reformed them into heavy tree trunks, using the girth to smash the offending machine to pieces.

Romeo's brother sagged in the restraints, gasping.

Wisteria moved up to him as quickly as she could.

"Are you ok?" She asked.

"Are you a-stupid!?" He shot back.

Wisteria took a step back, offended.

"I'm sorry? I just saved you!"

"I agreed to this damn experiment!" Was the reply.

Wisteria's mouth fell open.

"W-What?" She gasped.

"Why would you ever want something like this!?"

Wisteria wracked his knowledge of the stories Romeo had told about his brothers.

 _The oldest, Lovino, is very tan, and curses a lot, while the middle child, Feliciano, is very sweet, a bit naive, and pale. So this must be the oldest, Lovino!_

"If you would kindly get your ass out, I'd enjoy having those bastards woken up so we could get this bullshit over with!"  
Wisteria gave him a weary once over.

 _Definitely the oldest._

Wisteria then burst out. "Why would you want this? Why would you want to help them?"

Lovino practically growled. "I don't! I hate all of them! I wish they all burn in hell, but it's the only way to get my baby brother back!"

Everything echoed through the empty, dull, room for a moment of silence.

"Wait...what?"

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: *Wrapped in five sweatshirts and two winter hats* I'm dying...**_

 ** _Arthur: Bloody hell, it's not THAT cold._**

 ** _Amethyst: ...still dying..._**

 ** _Alfred: Why, though? Are you not good with cold weather?_**

 ** _Amethyst: No. I hate it. I can't stand it. I wanna hide inside with hot cocoa and a good series to binge._**

 ** _Matthew: How about Supernatural?_**

 ** _Amethyst: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO_**

 ** _Matthew: ...are you ok?_**

 ** _Amethyst: I WILL NOT FALL INTO THAT FRESH HELL I'M ALREADY ADDICTED TO ANIME I DON'T NEED TO BRANCH OUT!_**

 ** _Matthew: Ok then. Sorry about that._**

 ** _Wisteria: Well, that jerk of Romeo's brother is going to be stressing me out next time, so I hope we'll see you all then! Please favorite, please follow, please review!_**

 ** _Amethyst: Please forgive me for this less then exciting sign off room session I'm tired and cold and have tennis practice in ten minutes WAIT TEN MINUTES CRAP BYE WHERE IS MY BAG!? *Runs*_**

 ** _Alfred: Yet again, see all you dudes! next chapter!_**

 ** _Amethyst: *Runs back in* FORGOT FORGOT! Thanks for that super awesome review LunaBloom! You gave me some inspiration to keep on writing, and you're right! Those who matter don't mind, so I'll keep on drilling with this story!_**

 ** _Valentin: Speaking of drills, your tennis drills are now going to start in three minutes._**

 ** _Amethyst: AHHHHHH! *Runs*_**


	29. Despite one year

_**Do I dare upload without any pre typed material, knowing it will probably take forever to fully get my mojo back for this story?**_

 _ **YES I FREAKING DO!**_

* * *

Wisteria's eyes flashed knowingly.  
"What? Your baby brother? You mean Romeo?"

The italian went slack slightly in the bonds.  
"H-How do you..." He stuttered.

Wisteria threw her arms forward, wrapping vines about the restraints and cracking them all off.

Lovino stumbled as he dropped forward onto his knees, struggling to get to his feet almost at once.

"How do you know him?" Lovino demanded, he looked slightly lost.

Wisteria crossed his arms and huffed.  
"They lied! They told you they had him? It was a lie! He escaped! He told me everything about it! Romeo teleported to the roadside a year ago with a shattered knee from the fall. A woman took him to the hospital, and then he teleported out. He ran all the way to New York City!"

Wisteria threw her arms behind her. "I know him! He's a member of the same group that I am, we're friends! Now wheres the other one? Feliciano?"

Lovino's face went slack for a second before he seemed to boil with anger.  
"Those...those bastards! Those damn pictures and videos were tampered with! I should have a-known!"

He knocked harshly on his own forehead.  
"Idiota!" He yelled at himself.

Wisteria grabbed his arm and pulled at him.

"Come on! Where's the middle brother?"

Lovino put his hands to his temples before turning his attention to the hallway.

"Feli is back in our cell. I volunteered to go first because he was too scared."

Lovino then led the way back through the maze of passages, until they arrived at a single, tightly secured cell door.

Wisteria put a finger to the keyhole and morphed his flesh to wood, fingering around in the space until she was able to gimmick the lock into opening.

The door swung inward, and Lovino burst inside.

"Feli!"

The paler italian jumped up from where he'd been seated, curled up in the corner on the floor.  
"F-Fratello? What are you doing a-here? I thought..."

Lovino pulled at Feliciano's arm.  
"We were played, Fratello. They don't a-have Romeo. We need to get out of here. This here, she says she is one of Romeo's friends. And I sure trust her a hell of a lot more then I trust any of those scientist bastards."

Wisteria pointed back up the hallway.

"This way! I think we're the last ones left!"

Out of nowhere, an explosion caused the ground to shake.  
"FRATELLO I'M SCARED!" Feliciano pounced onto Lovino's back, and the older shoved him off.  
"What was that?" He demanded.

Wisteria jumped at being addressed.

"My friends! They're destroying the front part of the building! We need to get out of here before they bring the whole place down!"

Feliciano seemed game for this.  
"RETREAT!"

He took off at a sprint, Lovino right behind him, and Wisteria was shocked as they easily outstripped her.  
"H-How are you so fast!?"

Lovino gave a brash laugh. "We Vargas's are experts at a-running away!"

They burst out the back, into the outdoor yard, and Wisteria was shocked by the chaos that reigned.

The fallen's were picking up as many people as they could, carrying them to the opposite side of the wall. More were slipping under the tunnels and out to freedom. Wisteria was instantly buffered on all sides by the crowd.

She searched about desperately, each of the italians having taken one of her hands.  
"This is crazy!" She shrieked.

Feliciano scanned the mobs in vain.

"Where is our Fratellino!?"

Lovino snapped to look down to Wisteria.

"You had better not been lying too!"

Wisteria let out a sudden gasp.  
"There! There he is!" She pointed.

Both of the Italians whipped their heads just in time to see a burst of green smoke, and another myth creature vanish to the opposite side of the wall.

Feliciano teared up. "I knew he would get the hang of it!" He exclaimed excitedly.

Wisteria began to drag them along behind her.

"Let's get to the other side! He'll come to us once everyone is safe!"

Feliciano scoffed. "Through that tunnel? With all those a-people! No way! I hate enclosed spaces!"

Lovino grinned.

"I hope you've ridden with Romeo before, because here we go!"

Wisteria felt his stomach turn, and the world became a blur of white and red as the two brothers pulled her into their own personal dimension for but a moment. Smoke surrounded her as they rematerialized at the other side of the wall.

Gasping heavily, Wisteria looked about, many of the myth creatures that had been rescued had fled. Several were in the process of finding friends or relatives.

Suddenly, in a plume of tell tale green erupted a couple hundred yards away.

Romeo solidified with a white puffball in his arms. The kitten jumped down and transformed into human form.

Emil glanced around at the trampled grass that was all that remained of most of the myth creatures that had fled.

Emil spotted the two older italians first, he tapped Romeo rapidly on the arm and pointed to them.

Romeo's eyes bugged slightly at the sight of his brothers, free and close enough to run too.

He did just that.

The older two met him half way.

"Fratellino!" Feliciano reached him first as Romeo hurled his arms around the paler man.

"It's you! Feli! Lovi!"

Lovino wrestled Romeo away from Feliciano in order to cup his face and look him up and down.

"God damn, you got bigger."

Romeo laughed tearfully.  
"I think I'm taller then you Fratello."

"Both of us, then! Ve~ you even learned to teleport everywhere! I'm so a-proud!"

Feliciano pounced on him.

"I can't believe this! After so long, to finally see you again!"

Wisteria was tearing up slightly and Emil elbowed her gently.

"You ok, tough girl?"

She scoffed at him, but the noise had lost it's usual bite.

"W-Well...c-can't really help it. I never had a family, so I'll never know what it's like to feel that that with brothers or sister or parents. But, to see him back with the after this year. How he managed to be happy even without them. He isn't the airheaded idiot everyone assumes, huh?"

Emil smirked. "Yeah, well...I've gotta say, I know the way he feels. Besides, you have us now."

Wisteria nodded.

"You're right. Let's head home."

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: Short...so freaking short...that reunion didn't pack enough punch...I'm disappointed in myself.**_

 _ **Alfred: You're back! *Tackle hug***_

 _ **Amethyst: WHY!? *Goes down***_

 _ **Alfred: We're finally gonna get rolling again!  
**_

 _ **Amethyst: I'm trying, guys, I really am. Life is still kinda being a jerk wad, plus this fandom, which I've done so much work for and love so much, is kind of getting dull to me. I love all you guys so much but I'm not sure how to regenerate how I felt when I started this story.**_

 _ **Arthur: I felt exhausted and mildly irritated. Still do, actually.**_

 _ **Amethyst: Thanks a whole freaking lot, Iggy, that really helps.**_

 ** _Allistor: Well I was homeless and now I'm happy! So dammit, finish this story, one way or another! We don't care if it takes you years!  
_**

 ** _Amethyst: I don't think it'll take YEARS._**

 ** _Hercules: Truly, the mark of an artist is the commitment to their work. You have such a commitment. You will succeed._**

 ** _Amethyst: ...when did you wake up?  
_**

 ** _Sadik: AH HA HA HA HA! You were trying to be all deep and meaningful and she just reminded us how much of a sarcastic ungrateful author she is!_**

 ** _Amethyst: DO NOT MAKE ME GET THE VACUUM BOY. *Whips out handheld vacuum*_**

 ** _Sadik: AHHHH! *Runs*_**

 ** _Amethyst: GET BACK HERE CLOUD MAN! *Chases him*  
_**

 ** _Wisteria: *Sigh* We're back, folks. We're back._**

 ** _Valentin: Amethyst is really tired right now and she's trying to push to get a chapter up at least twice a month, so we all hope you'll be kind and continue supporting our story! We'll defeat the labs one day, and we hope you'll all be there to see us do it! Please favorite, follow, and review! Thank you again!_**


	30. Homework and hacking go hand in hand

_***Crawls into room***_

 _ ***Posts chapter***_

 _ ***Dies***_

* * *

 ** _Two weeks later._**

Life resumed as before, with Romeo happily introducing his brothers to everyone in the Sanctuary. Feliciano took an instant liking to Ludwig, and soon enough it wasn't uncommon to see him chasing Kiku around, trying to get the shy japanese boy into a conversation.

Lovino, on the other hand, wasn't very friendly, but he managed to begrudgingly accept the people whom his brother had come to call part of his family.

It was right back to business now, the days filled with recruiting, myth creatures racing in and out of the cavern by the hour.

For Lilli, this meant going back to her double life. She went to school, talked to girls in class whom she used to think of as friends, only to realize they were shallow gossip queens now that she had a real family. She once spent her nights hoping for her brother to come home, making dinner for them only to be forced to eat alone and pack his portion into the fridge. It felt she rarely ever saw him these days. He claimed work was getting intensely busy, and he regretted not being able to spend more time with her.

These days, though, that didn't really bother her anymore. Sure, she missed him, she loved him very much, but she now had other things in her life that were important to her. The germanic girl was only now realizing just how plain and dull her life had been previous to finding that little white kitten lying injured in the alleyway.

She shuddered to wonder what would have happened should Emil have never gone out of the Sanctuary that day. She'd still be living that same old routine. Never have known how it felt to fly on a (note: fallen) angels wings, or to see magic be performed right before her eyes as Lukas sent runes flying into the air. Watched an axe be summoned from thin air, or be greeted by a solidifying cloud of smoke as Sadik came wafting on by. She'd never have seen the world from so high up. Never known how it felt to trust someone like she trusted Emil and Li Xiang and Alfred and Matthew. Like she trusted everyone there. She never would have known how a mermaids scales felt, moist and cool under her fingertips as she and Michelle went for swims at the beach. If Emil had never gone out that night, Lilli never would have known just how exciting and vibrant life could be.

 _But he did go out, and I'm not in that boring old life anymore._

She thought as she cleverly covered the flash drive she'd just burnt Phoenix files onto.

This was dangerous, that she knew. If she were caught she'd probably have to hide like the rest of the myth creatures, and Vash would be worried sick should that occur.

 _I wonder what Big Brother would think, if he found out what I was doing?_

Lilli smiled softly as she worked, doe eyes narrowed on the bright screens of scrolling code.

 _Best not to worry about it._

She concluded before shutting down the process she'd been using and starting to do some actual homework.

Lying to her brother was something she once never even imagined doing, unless it was a white lie, like saying she wasn't dressed when he knocked to come into her room, because she was working on the pajama's she was sewing him for his birthday.

Now it was like clockwork. She lied to her brother, saying she was going over to some girl from schools house. Someone she used to go over and see quite often, but yet again discovered her shallowness at meeting the myths. She'd return later, but that never mattered because her brother wouldn't be home yet anyway. She lied saying she was going on a sleep over, because her brother was always on business trips on the weekend anyway.

 _Then, that's not really a lie..._

Lilli pondered this as her pencil hovered over the unbalanced chemical equations on her worksheet.

 _After all, I am going on a sleep over. Just with around fifty more people then Big Brother expects._

Lilli tapped a few keys on the computer to pull up a periodic table so she could try and solve these equations.

Still, her mind wandered.

 _I wonder if I could get away with spending the night in the cavern? No, tomorrow is a school day. If only I could just move in with them altogether...no, I have to finish school. Maybe I can convince Alfred to drop me off?_

Lilli giggled at the thought, knowing the glasses wearing fallen would likely agree rather enthusiastically. His soft spoken brother would come along, as well, since it was well known that the fallen twins never separated unless absolutely necessary.

 _No, no, that would be dangerous for him. For me too, considering her flying skills!_

She giggled again, trying unsuccessfully to hide it behind her hand.

"What's so funny about chemistry?"

She yelped and looked up to see Vash leaning over her, scanning the worksheet and then flicking his mossy green eyes up to study the periodic table on the computer.

"Carbon-14, not Carbon-12, silly. They're different." He commented when he looked down on her work.

"Oops!" Lilli erased that portion and rewrote it.

"Thank you! Why are you here?"

Vash raised an eyebrow. "Do you mind me checking on you?"

Lilli shook her head, smiling. "Not at all, I'm happy to see you! I was just surprised, since you're normally to busy."  
Vash sighed and sat down in the chair next to his little sister.  
"Look, I'm not good at this stuff, but...I'm sorry? I guess that's how it works..." He mumbled.

Lilli blinked before furrowing her brow quizzically.

"Whatever for? You've done nothing wrong."

Vash groaned. "I know it means a lot to you that we spend some time together, and for the last few months you've been pretty ok with me having to be gone so much. I figured you just gave up, thinking I was a lost cause. Tell you what, why don't we go on a picnic this Saturday? You can make those sandwiches I like so much, and I'll bake some of those little cakes you love, and we can spend the day together. How does that sound?"

Lilli brightened, her chest fluttering excitedly at the thought of finally being able to spend a day with her beloved brother, just the two of them.

"I'd love that! Just..."

Her eyes got a bit downcast.

"...if you think you'll have to leave in the middle of it, please just don't bother, alright? I hate you having to leave in the middle of the day more then just not going out at all."

Vash sighed again and leaned forward, wrapping one arm around the girls shoulders and kissing her on the forehead.

"I already talked to my boss about it, if he tries to call me away he already knows I'm going to tell him to deal with it without me."

Lilli looked shiningly happy.

"Y-Yes! Then I'd love too so much! I'll get the things for the cakes and sandwiches after school tomorrow!"

Vash nodded. "Well, I've got to head back. Work hard."

He ruffled the girls brownish blonde hair, her purple ribbon mirroring the sway of her hair.

"Ok! See you!"

She watched him leave and instantly started plotting in her head.

Originally she was supposed to go with a group to liberate another lab they'd uncovered in Virginia, but they could fair without her. She'd already done her part of the job, finding out about the lab, it's location, and it's defenses.

All she did was navigate when she went on the actual trips, anyway.

 ** _Saturday._**

Lilli woke up earlier then her brother, and that was a shock within itself. Although, her cell phone ringing may have something to do with that.

Fumbling, she snatched up the phone and put it to her ear.

"Hello?" She managed to convince her sleep drunk brain to cooperate with speech.

"Lilli, where are you? We're leaving in less then an hour!" Came Emil's voice through the speaker.

Lilli blinked. "How did you get a phone?"

Emil groaned. "Li Xiang found a way to tap the reception thing, so now me, him, Arthur, and a few of the others have phones. Guess I forgot to mention it."

Lilli rolled over onto her back in her bed and spoke again.

"How did Li Xiang manage that?"

"Don't ask me." Emil replied, and Lilli could tell he'd shrugged.

"I'm sorry, you'll have to go without me. I'm spending the day with my Big Brother, he's finally off work on a weekend for the first time in months, so we're going on a picnic."  
"Really? Where?" Emil inquired.

"The field next to...the forest..." She trailed off slowly when she realized how close their usual picnic spot was to the secret home of the myths.

"Well, we'll be taking off in less then an hour, so you guys probably won't see us. I'll call if something bad happens."  
Lilli felt a small tug of guilt at her heartstrings.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner I wasn't coming."

"No, it's ok. You've been doing so much for us, and spending so much time here, you should spend what you can with your brother."

"Thank you! I'll talk to you later, Emil!"

"Bye."

She hung up and just then the door to her bedroom opened.

Vash poked his head in, blonde hair mussed with bed head.

"So, who's this Emil? And should I be worried about him or this Li Xiang person?"

Lilli shrieked and dragged her blanket over her head.  
"Big Brother! Why were you eavesdropping!?"

Vash walked into the room and sat himself down on the edge of the bed.

"Well, because you're my sister, and if any guys are after you I'm going to threaten them with my rifle."  
"Big Brother!" Lilli groaned as she lowered her blanket and gave a weak glare.

"Emil is just a good friend of mine, so is Li Xiang. I spend time with them and a few others during the week after school. I go on sleep overs with Li Xiang's sisters and some of the other girls from school."

Lilli was honestly worried about how easy lying straight to her brothers face had become.

Vash huffed. "Alright. Well, I'm going to get get dressed and get everything set, you need anything?"

Lilli shook her head. "No, I'm alright!"

With this, Vash left the room, and Lilli collapsed backwards onto her pillows.

 _Scratch that. With every fib, it's getting harder and harder to keep a straight face. I'm so scared of what he'll think, and I've never hidden anything from him before. I just want today to be calm and relaxing for me and for him. Hopefully nothing bad happens._

* * *

 ** _Amethyst: I'm almost there..._**

 ** _Alfred: With the story?  
_**

 ** _Amethyst: With not getting a C in phys science._**

 ** _Valentin: Well that could be an issue._**

 ** _Amethyst: *Eye twitch* REALLY I HADN'T NOTICED!_**

 ** _Lars: Psssh, just google everything._**

 ** _Amethyst: I'M NO CHEATER!_**

 ** _Peter: Yeah! You can do it!_**

 ** _Amethyst: No, I really doubt that I can. But I did have a two hour car trip today so that is why this chapter has been born._**

 ** _Everyone: HOORAY!_**

 ** _Amethyst: Now I'm gonna try really really really hard to work on it because the freaking plot that everyone has been looking for is gonna pick up real fast once we hit the next chapter. Like WOW. I DUNNO HOW THIS IS GONNA GO DOWN WITH PEOPLE BUT I LIKE IT!_**

 ** _Feliciano: Until then, everyone please a-favorite, a-follow, and a-review! Ciao~_**


	31. The day ruined

**_I SCREWED UP AND NOW TWO CHAPTERS GET POSTED! THANKS QUIET LEAF!_**

* * *

 ** _Later that day._**

"That was nice!" Lilli chirped, positively giddy.

She was holding her older brothers arm as they walked back home after spending the past few hours eating out near the forest, then walking on one of the trails and talking about blissfully normal things. Lilli was able to easily deter their route away from the tree that hid the Sanctuary beneath it's roots.

"It was." Vash agreed, smiling ever so slightly to her.

They'd talked about school, Vash's work, Lilli's friends, that adorable little bunny that had jumped across the path and Lilli had squealed over.

Nothing about lab resurgences, new abilities, the differences between faye and wind whisperers. It was comfortable, familiar, wonderful.

A great day.

That is, until Lilli's phone started buzzing from the pocket of her cross body purse. Vash gave her a quirked eyebrow.

"Your boyfriend calling?"

"Of all the people, I didn't think you'd tease me about having a boy _who is my_ friend." Lilli replied cheekily before she answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Lil! We, like, have a situation! Like, there's this, like, barrier around the entire, like, lab! We're totally trapped!"

"Li Xiang? What!?"

At the other end of the line, there was a brief scuffle.

"Give me that! Lilli, this is Arthur! Was there any record of some sort of trapping barrier?"

Lilli squeaked, then looked back to Vash, who was watching her worriedly.

"D-Don't worry! I'll find out!"

She looked up at Vash before crying out.  
"I have to go!"

And sprinting back in the direction from whence they'd come. She was heading for the Sanctuary, the flash drive and her laptop were there. She needed to get down there and get ahold of the information.

For now, though, she had to dodge her brother, who had just grabbed her arm.

Her cell phone skittered across the pavement, not breaking or cracking, thankfully.

"Lilli! Where are you going? What happened? Is one of your friends hurt?"

Unable to think of anything else, Lilli went for it.

"Yes! We normally met at a certain spot in the forest and he said he hurt his ankle near there and is in a lot of pain!"

Vash instantly widened his stance. "Then we'll go help him! Why do you need to go alone?"

Lilli chewed her bottom lip before finally pulling her arm free.

"Because I have too!" She scooped up her phone.

"I'm on the way!" She called into it as she bolted across the street.  
"Lilli!" Vash was chasing her.

 _I'll lose him in the trees!_

She thought as she shot across the meadow and into the foliage.  
Vash was right behind her, but while Lilli's quick little strides placed just right bounded her along, having ran these woods before, Vash's clunky boots and long strides caused him to be caught up in multiple bushes and tree roots.

The tree was coming into sight, but Lilli knew that Vash was right behind her.

She took a detour, running clear across the woods and into the trees again, vanishing into the brush.

Vash came after her, and Lilli watched from the tree she'd leapt up and scrambled into as he ran beneath her.  
"Lilli! Come back!" His calls faded out as she dropped softly to the ground again.

"I'm sorry, Big Brother." She murmured.

She was going to have a lot of explaining to do, but that could wait.  
"I'm heading down now." She said into the phone.

"Hurry the hell up!" Arthur shouted. She could make out sounds of gunfire and screams from the speaker behind the fallen.

She crawled into the cave and threw herself headfirst down the shaft without hesitation.

The moss slick stone shoot curved and bent, before depositing Lilli onto the floor of the entry cave.

She was on her feet again in a heartbeat.

"Ok, ok, ok!" She wracked her memory, trying to calm her panicked mind.

"Pull faye girls wings!" She hastily rubbed her hands against the paintings wings.

"Touch the werewolves golden rings." She knocked her knuckle once on each of the rings in the painting.

"Sirens grow jealous, don't risk your head, give them each a kiss to the lips, to cherish in your stead." She muttered this quickly as she stooped and pressed her lips to the paintings own.

"Stare, for the chance will be brief." She locked eyes with the god of knowledge, who stood proudly with his book to the opposite side of the cave as the sirens.

The paintings eyes shifted down.

She darted forward and slapped both palms clumsily to the surface of the book.

A grinding sound filled the space as the massive slab of stone opened.

Lilli ducked under it as soon as she could, only to stop when she heard a familiar voice screaming.

Vash came tumbling out of the stone shaft.

He sprawled onto his back on the stone.

"What the hell is this...Lilli!?" He spun to see her.

"Knowledge! Close it! Please" Lilli cried out, looking to the painting on the wall.

Vash stumble to his feet and ran forward, but just like that the god of knowledge's eyes flashed, and the slab slammed down with enough force to make the ground shake.

Lilli could hear Vash pounding his fist against the stone.

She sprinted up the small incline and onto the bright green grasses, under the bright shining of the runes.

"Lilli? I thought you weren't coming today?" Wisteria asked, looking over to her in confusion from where she was playing with the other kids, but Lilli ran straight past her.  
"Sorry I need my laptop!" She reached the ladder and climbed quickly as she could up to the fourth level of hollows. They'd filled up to the seventh since she'd been given one to herself. After all the nights she spent there, it would have been strange for her _not_ to have her own hollow.

The germanic girl seized her laptop from where it rested and powered it on.

From there it was back to what she knew, she tucked the phone to her ear as she decoded files and found new information. She gave directions to successfully shut down the barrier. Once this was said and done, she cupped the phone in both hands and asked.

"Is everyone alright? No one is hurt badly?"

Arthur gritted his teeth. "We're looking at some major bumps and bruises. With Francis here though, we'll pull through. Thank you." With this the line went dead.

Lilli wined as the phone powered off.

She slumped her chin down and groaned.

 _I need to commit. One place or the other. I can't take this anymore, wavering in between._

With this in mind she clambered back down the ladder.

"Wisteria, I need you to recite the poem as soon as I am through, ok? Then don't have anyone go out for a while. All of you stay here. Sadik!"

Lilli shouted this up into the air.

"Yo, Lil! How's it hanging? You looking majorly stressed!" The accented voice and questionable english boomed as turkish basty solidified in front of her, his top half firm while his legs blurred away into gaseous transparency. You could just barely make out his gray washed out jeans, the bottom part of his heavy green overcoat, and his laced up brown boots. His boots were near invisible, seeing as he normally took his form as smoke or clear gas drifting through the Sanctuary.

Lilli sighed heavily. "My big brother...he followed me down here. I'm scared to go out there and face him. Do you think you could ghost along, in case I need help explaining, or proving I'm not insane?"

Sadik smirked. "You want me to be the comforting squad? I'm there for you, girl! I'll chill right up behind you that'a way you can just holler for me!"

Lilli sighed with relief, putting her hand to her chest.

"Thank you." She said graciously before she turned to the stone.

Wisteria nodded, and as they walked out, she recited the poem as quickly as she could.

Sadik blurred and vanished into the air and the stone ground shut when Wisteria's small voice finished the poem.

Vash pounced on Lilli the instant she was out.  
"How do you know this place!?" He shouted, this was his first question.

Lilli's eyes widened. "W-What do you mean? You're not confused about where we are?"

Vash dug into his pocket for his cell phone, as he was swiping through contacts he rambled on.

"I've been searching for almost a year now! What have they done to you?"

Lilli's gasped at the sight of a small red beacon.

Her brother was sending out a beacon.

A beacon to the labs.

"Sadik, short it out!" Lilli screamed, pointing at the phone.

Instantly, the phone gave a fizzing noise as Sadik bolted forward in his smoke form, still invisible to the naked eye, and plunged into the device, frying the delicate wiring that made it the phone work.

Vash, who didn't know who Sadik was, or what had just happened, lifted his eyes slowly to look at Lilli.

Lilli who was gazing at him with a betrayal so deep it was physically painful.

"You...you work for the labs? The people who hunt us?"

Vash looked like he'd just taken a blow to the head, his face went far away and his eyes grew massive.

 _"Us?_ Lilli, what the hell do you mean, us? They're monsters, have you taken over you? Are they threatening you or one of your friends?"  
Vash's voice grew in ferocity, his hands fisting as he demanded these things of his little sister.

Sweet, innocent Lilli Zwingli. His darling baby sister who never knew any better then to go skipping through life with a twirl of her skirt.

Lilli tightened her grip on her cell phone, the only thing she had on hand at the moment.

"They _are_ my friends."

Vash looked as though his entire world had just come crashing down around his eyes.

"No. No, they are not. They're monsters. They aren't human. They're freaks that need to be contained!"

Lilli felt tears rush out of her eyes at the sound of such hateful words from that voice she loved so dear.

"No! You're wrong! They aren't human, that is true! But they're not freaks! They may not be human, but they _are_ people! Kind, wonderful people who I love and care about! I won't let you leave if you intend to harm us!"

Vash turned on his heel and stalked towards the slide.

"No!" Lilli latched onto Vash's arm in panic.

Vash turned and elbowed her in the ribs, knocking her violently backwards.

In a gust of dark gray smoke Sadik turned solid, but he wasn't fast enough, and Lilli's head struck the stone floor with enough force to send a sickening _crack_ through the cave.

"Lil!" He shouted as he gathered her gently up, checking for signs of blood.

"Lilli! Dammit, I didn't mean too..." Vash looked shocked, clearly he'd underestimated his own strength. He started backing towards the slide. Towards escape.

Sadik's eyes flashed with anger.

"What the hell, you bastard!? She talks like you're a saint and this is how you repay her? You ain't leaving!"

Sadik bursted forward, laying Lilli onto the ground, and in exploded into gray smoke that surrounded Vash. The older man swatted and spun, but couldn't free himself from the gas surrounding him.

Until it flooded into his ears, Sadik filling into his mind. Sadik had only to dig around a bit before he found it. He tripped the switch for sleep, and Vash was instantly rendered unconscious.

Sadik emerged from within the swiss mans mind and had to struggle to maintain his physical form.

He managed his way sloppily through the entry routine.

 _Putting someone to sleep...while they're consciously putting up a fight...takes a toll...lotsa energy._

The slab ground upwards, and with the last vestige of his strength, he notified Wisteria of the situation. She ran to get Allistor, Jett, and Toby from the pools, the other kids scrambled into action to wake or fetch any other available adults.

Jett, with his overlong arms thanks to his species of the water dwelling mimi, lifted Lilli gently from the ground.

"She'll be ok, right?" Peter twittered anxiously, eyes roaming over the pink dress donning girls prone form.

Toby elevated the human girls head as she was carried back into the cavern, surrounded by caring gazes, concerned whispers, and gently, soothing touches.

As Allistor harshly dragged Vash in, and with a bitter tone to his voice, snapped out the lines of the tome.

The slab shut, and with this Allistor returned his focus onto the situation at hand.

As Lilli was laid into a bed in the medical ward, and instantly crowded by her non human friends, the man that was her only blood relative left alive lay still in the grasses.

Should they have been monsters, perhaps they would have ended him while their precious human friend lay sleeping.

Then again, if they were monsters, she never would have been precious to them in the first place.

Which is why while Lilli was cared for and tucked comfy in bed, Lovino teleported Vash to the highest hollow, and left him on the bed, where he could cause no immediate threat.

Though in his present situation, there was probably more of a threat towards him.

* * *

 _ **Arthur: See, this is what happens when you don't post on this website for so long. You forget chapters.**_

 _ **Amethyst: Dude that has happened at least once in every single story I have ever written.**_

 _ **Arthur: Oh. Well I guess you're just an idiot then.**_

 _ **Amethyst: *Flings purple ball of lightning***_

 _ **Arthur: WHY!? *Gets hit and flies away***_

 _ **Amethyst: ANYONE ELSE!?**_

 _ **Everyone: *Silence***_

 _ **Amethyst: That's what I thought. I don't care just someone do it.**_

 _ **Feliks: Please favorite, follow, and totes review! Thanks fam!**_


	32. I'd rather be

**_OH MY GOD I MADE IT AND THIS CHAPTER IS PLOT IT IS PLOT THE STORY IS ADVANCING OH HOLY ROME YES!_**

* * *

 ** _That night._**

"'How do you feel, mon fille?" The french accent pierced the glazed over world of shadows she'd been hanging in, just shy of consciousness.

Lilli blinked as faces swam before her eyes, she shook her head softly and felt a heavy pain in the back of it.

"What...happened?"

Sadik materialized by her side, and it was now she realized she was in the medical ward.

Next she realized she was fenced in entirely by her friends. Jett, Toby, Allistor, and Michelle stood at the foot of the bed, all crowded around. Peter was trying to squeeze in between the two mimi's. Wisteria sat at the foot of one side, with Kaiser seated at the other. Valentin was leaning on the bedpost with Aurel next to him. Romeo, Feliciano, and Lovino were all trying to gain space from the fallen angel trio on her left. To her right Francis was seated on a small stool next to her, with all six dragon spawn, along with the five frost faye, crammed into the space.

All eyes were on her, and Lilli then gave an attempt at sitting up.

"Careful, mon fille!"

"Don't force it, Lil!"

"Be careful, love!"

"Easy, Lilli!"

"Aii-yah, don't hurt yourself, aru!"

"Don't, like, mess yourself up any more!"

Hands shot out from all side and lifted pillows, tugged blankets, and gave helpful support so the one human so valued could sit straight in comfort.

Sadik gazed at her forlornly.

"Like, so sorry, Lil. Your brother got this way mad look and he shoved you! You tripped and I couldn't get solid quick enough to catch you, so ya hit your head!"

Lilli smiled weakly and waved her hand.

"No, no...it's ok. It's just...I can't believe it."  
She felt herself tearing up again just at the memory.

"Big Brother really is part of the labs. I thought he was just a paper pusher that didn't know anything...but he knows...and he tried to expose you. It's all my fault. If I'd just done my research better, you wouldn't have had to call me and this never would have happened!"

"Don't blame yourself." Matthew insisted.

"Yeah, dude, you totes couldn't have seen this one coming! Total curveball!" Alfred exclaimed.

Arthur sighed. "What he said."

Kaiser bounced on the foot of the bed a few times.

"Don't be upset, Lilli! Our art will continue on! You know, the very best art is created through suffering!"

Wisteria rolled her eyes. "I think what he's trying to say is not to worry, everything will be ok."

Lilli forced a smile. "You're right, guys. We'll jut figure it out together."

To this, everyone had no choice but to agree.

As the day progressed, it was all to easy to forget that a certain prisoner was still up in one of the top level hollows.

Vash awoke with light streaming through the heavy curtain. Massaging his forehead, the first thing he did was reach for his phone.

Gone. Obviously.

Now that he was slowly waking up, he had the memories of the day before come rushing back.

 _Lilli!_

He leapt up and pulled back the curtain, already swinging a leg over the wall before he stopped dead.

Being close to one hundred feet up could do that too a person.

He gazed down at the myth creatures all milling about and felt his blood run cold.

 _So many of them...I have to find Lilli and get out of here!_

He bided his time, watching as one by one groups left the cavern.

 _Off to recruit more of their army..._

Vash thought.

Once it appeared everyone was gone, though he couldn't be sure with the dozens of hollows, curtains pulled shut.

Even so, he swung out onto the ladder and started the painstaking climb, his fingers clutching tightly at the stone.

After all, it was a long fall.

He dropped to the ground after a few minutes taken to get all the way down safely.

His first thought was immediate escape, but in this, he found he couldn't leave his sister behind.

Despite how she'd acted, there _had_ to be a reason.

 _That man made of smoke was able to get inside my head, why not hers?_

This was how he supported his case as he started a careful search.

As he walked, he found that the den of the demon spawn, as he'd been so taught, was a paradise within itself. Lush green grass was beneath his boots, and fountains of creatures from storybooks dotted the area.

What drew his gaze was the fountain at the center of the place, in the exact middle of the cavernous space.

It was gorgeous, a wolf baring it's teeth, a dragon seated majestically with water spurting from it's mouth in place of a fiery breath. A bat had it's wings spread above the wolf, while a dove perched upon one of the dragons unfurled wings.

Furrowing his brow, Vash stared up at the arrangement, piecing things together in his head.

 _If I remember, the leader here is a fallen angel...one with feathers and bird like wings. It's not to far a stretch to call him a dove, now is it? There is also a werewolf almost always with the fallen angel, he would be the wolf. Another leader, there is a shorter man who is often with those three in the little footage we have managed to obtain, he had patches of scales, and breaths fire. A dragon._

Vash strode around the fountain once, taking in the artful carving of the fountain.

 _The dragon, dove, and wolf_

He stopped when he came across a book, settled directly in front of the four creatures facing the same direction.

 _They must be the creatures that hold the most power! But then...where is the bat?_

Though his conclusion was flawed he was not that far off, as he stepped forward towards the massively thick tome.

Hesitating, for the book gave off an intimidating aura with it's thick leather binding and pedestal in such a place of honor.

His fingers brushed over the blank cover, but before he could open it, he was roughly seized by the shoulder and spun around.

He was met with flared scarlet eyes, gritted fangs, and massive leathery black wings protruding from the mans shoulder blades.

Recognition flashed in mossy green eyes.

 _He must be the fourth leader...the bat...a vampire!_

"Do not _dare_ dirty our tome with _your_ hands!" He snarled.

Vash had nothing but his own fists, while this creature clearly was fueled by rage amongst his unknown range of powers.

Shoving the winged man away, he pushed away and raced across the clearing towards the cavern exit.

 _I'll have to come back for Lilli, if I get sucked by a vampire, it won't be much help to anyone._

He was shocked to find he was not, in fact, swooped over by bat like wings, or quickly overtaken by superior speed from the one who had stopped him at the tome.

He reached the tunnel and found it blocked by a massive block. He pounded on it with his fists but it did not give.

"See? Why should I waste energy chasing you, if you cannot leave on your own?" Came a voice, the accented lilt struck terror into the swiss man.

Not showing his fear on his face, he turned around.

"What, you don't want to drink my blood, or whatever?"

Scarlet eyes widened, before lips curled upwards and the vampire laughed enthusiastically.

Vash took this moment to realize he wasn't dressed the way he imagined a powerful general of the myth creatures would. Torn jeans, with skidded off knees from many a bad landing, covered his legs, with clunky combat boots, and a rather boring red sweatshirt. He did have a miniature top hat on his head, with several ribbons coming off it, but that was really the only thing unusual about his clothes. His ghostly pale skin was strange for certain, and longish brown hair brushed down past his shoulders to the front, but was cut rather short to the back.

The vampire stuffed his hands in his shirt pockets as he walked over.

"Tell you what, I'll introduce myself, but first, you have to tell me how you are related to the labs."

Vash didn't have much option, under the icy gaze of blood red irises.

"I'm the head captain of the brigade...I was hired about a year ago, took the job for extra money at first, then devoted myself more to the cause. It was to protect my sister."

The vampire laughed again, with such an air of madness to the sound it made Vash shiver.

"Well then..."

He removed his right hand from his pocket and offered it forward.

"I am Valentin Popescu. I suppose you could call me the caretaker here."

Vash raised an eyebrow in confusion as he unwillingly gave a quick handshake.

"I thought you were a general?"

Valentin scoffed. "General? What gave you that idea?" He turned and walked back into the cavern, clearly expecting to be followed. Vash did.

"I suppose...nevermind...what do you mean by caretaker?"

Valentin shrugged. "I'm here all day. I can't go outside for more than an hour or two while the sun is out. So I volunteered to stay here and watch the kids."

This blindsided Vash. "W-What? Kids? What kids?"

Valentin rolled his eyes as he came to a stop and faced the lab solider.

"I don't care if you believe me or not, but I am going to say this, for a fact. We don't care about hurting humans, killing humans, drinking human blood."

Valentin pointed to his fangs at this. "We do it all in self defense. If you guys don't bug us, we've got no reason to bug you. I'll drink from a cow or something, doesn't bother me. We just want to take care of our own. I was left alone in the world at thirteen. My mother was a human, my father a several generations reduced vampire. Both of them were murdered by vampire hunters, as was my six year old little brother."

Valentin's face took on one of great cruelty. That of one who had suffered long at the hands of something beyond him.

"Think about that. Think about being thirteen years old, and being able to do nothing but run and scream as your little brother...or sister." He added this pointedly.

"Was killed. Fleeing into the dark, knowing everyone hated you so, yet having done nothing to earn that hate. Just because you were born, everyone wanted you dead. Everyone here has felt like that."

Vash couldn't even imagine losing Lilli when he was that young.

"I thought I was alone...that I'd live and die alone..."

Vash's gaze was suddenly caught by a curtain opening high above. Someone jumped out with a moments hesitation. His breath caught as they fell, eyes wide, but a pair of wings snapped out and the myth creature spiraled to the grassy ground.

"Big brother! Good morn...the human!?" The boy's scarlet eyes flew open wide as he stopped dead a few yards away, having previously been running to meet Vali.

"I've got it under control. Go get everyone who stays here up, will you? And make some waves in the pool to get the sea dwellers out. Then I'll help you with your hair if you want."

The boy hesitated before nodding his agreement. "Ok, if you say so..."

Valentin ruffled his hair, and then the younger vampire flew off, presumably to get everyone up.

Vash turned back to Valentin. "Is that...?"

Vali nodded, looking after the boy fondly.

"My little brother, Aurel. When our home was attacked and our parents killed, he witnessed our mother being staked...then he jumped from the window and glided to the ground. Neither of us could fly yet, our wings hadn't grown enough. Though he managed enough to get out of there. Another vampire, a little younger than me, found him and raised him. Took care of him...oh, speak of the devil. Sleep at all, Nico?"

Nicolae put a hand to his mouth, yawning. "Quite a bit, by some miracle."

Valentin snickered. "Mind helping with the wake up call, I'm human guarding."

Nicolae merely turned and walked right back in the direction he'd come, heading to the pool area.

Vash didn't want to dare asking any questions. This hospitality had to be false, the kindness they showed towards each other had to be fabricated. They were supposed to be bloodlust filled killers, living in a hierarchy where the weak were eliminated.

 _Kids? Did he really mean...?_

The swiss man's eyes widened when the curtain of a hollow was drawn back by Aurel.

"C'mon, Kaiser, it's morning!"

"M'coming...m'coming..."

A...girl? With a massive amount of wavy snowy white hair falling to her ankles came staggering out of the hollow, made her way slowly down the ladder and walked, pigeon toed, towards the pools, rubbing a violet eye.

A flute hung loosely in her grasp, and she was wearing a wrinkled dress shirt that reached to her mid thigh, and was struggled with the buttons of a black vest. Underneath this she was wearing a pair of black leggings with brown ankle boots.

At least, now they were brown, though from the soles Vash could tell they had once been gray.

 _How many miles did she run for those things to change that color?_

He wondered, imagining how much muck and grime it had to have taken to permanently stain the boots.

"How...old is she?"

Valentin laughed, covering the action with his fist.

"W-What?" Vash demanded, looking between the vampire and the child stumbling sleepily for the pools.

Valentin cupped a hand around his mouth and called.

"Kaiser! Your brother already left, you need help with your hair?"

The girl did a ditzy spin to look back.

"Yes please!"

It was when Valentin was helping pull the insane amount of white hair into two braids with Vash observing that he realized it.

This girl was too flat to be a girl.

"Wait..." He mumbled.

"He's got some hairstyle, huh?" Valentin called over his shoulder this mostly just to confirm what Vash was already suspecting.

Once Kaiser had gone running off, the cavern was coming alive.

Vash had been very wrong when he'd first emerged from the hollow he'd been trapped in, he was far from alone. The two older vampires seemed to be in charge of a group of kids, none older than fourteen.

At the topic of kids, Vash realized what he was forgetting.

"My sister!" He exclaimed, before turning quickly on Valentin.

"What have you done with her!?"

Because of course, this all had to be fabricated, a ruse to convince him to their side, as surely they tricked his sweet hearted sister. There was no way they actually cared for each other like this. There was no way they actually cared for Lilli. Despite the overwhelming evidence, Vash would not back down. This had to be the truth. It was the only truth he'd ever known.

At this demand, Vali's eyes hardened, and the children grouped in a circle on the grassy ground sharing a breakfast of fruit and crackers all looked up to him.

Valentin's face went dark. "At this point, I am inclined to believe she's better off staying here."

Vash gritted his teeth. "There is no way you're really like this! You're all bloodthirsty monsters! You can't be so...so...so...so human!"

"Yet here we are." Vali said simply.

Vash's mind was awash.

 _Have I been having innocent people with families and friends kidnapped and murdered this entire time? Have I let myself be manipulated? No, that can't be. They are't human! They aren't like us...but...those kids...this man...no...not man! He is not a man, he is a monster! A vampire who drinks blood! This cannot be true, I can't...it can't..._

Vash was swinging his fist before he thought, ready to collide with the vampires face, when he was seized by the arm.

"No!"

Vash rounded to face whoever stopped when, when he came face to face with his precious sister.

"Lilli!" Relief came over him, that she was here.

The vampire, those demons, that man made of smoke, they could all go to hell as long as he had his sister.

He grabbed her hand.

"We need to get out of here!"

He made to run for the tunnel again, surely Lilli knew how to get that block up so they could get out.

She ripped her hand free of his.

"I'm not going anywhere." She said sharply.

He'd never heard her speak like this. Her voice was still high pitched, of course, but her very tone was different. She looked betrayed, as if Vash had done something that mangled her entire view of him.

Though he didn't realize it, he had.

"Lil, you shouldn't be up."

It was Valentin who said this, putting his hand on Lilli's shoulder and wrapping the other gently around her arm.

Vash waited for her to scream, to pull away, to kick him, to yell at him.

Anything. Anything at all to show that this wasn't real, that she didn't really view these people as her family.

Instead, she looked up to him and smiled.  
"I'm fine, Vali, I promise. I'll go back to bed soon, but this is something I need to deal with."

Vash's eyes, so alike to those of his little sister, were startled, unable to truly accept this reality.

Lilli managed her arm free from Valentin, he let her go, but stayed close behind her in case her previous head pain returned suddenly.

"I won't let you hurt them blindly." She said, face guarded as she observed Vash's panic stricken expression.

"What are you talking about...how can you care about them!?"

Lilli crossed his arms. "What basis do you have, that you yourself have seen with your own two eyes, that proves they are monsters? They aren't human, I know that! But that doesn't make them anything less than humans! They don't want to hurt us, they just want to be left alone!"

Lilli's gaze filled with tears. "If you are so narrow-minded as to only judge based on your own fears, or on what others have told you, than I can't accept that!"

She reached to the side of her head.

"And if you intend to keep on hunting them, keep on fighting them, forcing them to be constantly scared and on the run, to be under the command of someone who wants nothing but to steal their power for themselves..."

She pulled the purple hair ribbon out of her honey blonde hair and tossed it to the ground.

"...than I don't want to be your sister anymore. I'd rather be a fugitive."

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: Yeah...it's been a while.**_

 _ **Nicolae: One could even say months.**_

 _ **Alfred: BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN!**_

 _ **Amethyst: I am so glad I got this up I was sitting around feeling awful for not updating so I was like 'screw it I am updating today if it kills me' and I did it!**_

 _ **Michelle: Yay! We are so proud!**_

 _ **Yao: Now you're going to go back to weekly or so updates, right, aru?**_

 _ **Amethyst: ...**_

 ** _Allistor: That's a no. Dammit._**

 ** _Amethyst: I'M SORRY WRITING IS HARD OK SHUT UP!_**

 ** _Kiku: It is quite alright. Do not fret, you can write and update whenever you wish._**

 ** _Amethyst: ...and no fourth wall shattering. You come through when you need too, huh Kiku?_**

 ** _Kiku: Indeed._**

 ** _Li Xiang: Well, I, like, guess I'm gonna just say this...please, like, fav, and follow and stuff. Reviews are appreciated or whatever. Thanks._**

 ** _Amethyst: You're terrible at this._**

 ** _Gilbert: *Jumps on Li Xiang* FAVORITE AND FOLLOW AND REVIEW AND YOU WILL ALL BE AWESOME!_**

 ** _Li Xiang: MY FREAKING EARS!_**


	33. Truly alone

_**I'm STILL NOT GIVING UP D:**_

* * *

Lilli pulled the purple hair ribbon out of her honey blonde hair and tossed it to the ground.

"...than I don't want to be your sister anymore."

With this she spun on her heel and stormed towards one of the ladders.

Vash felt his heart beat very strongly in his chest. The entire world had dropped away at those words.

The only person he ever worked for. The only person he ever cared for. The only person he wanted to take care of more than anything else.

Had just verbally _disowned_ him.

 _For what? A group of freaks?_

"L-Lilli..." His gaze was fogging up, why was that?

It didn't occur to him that tears were pouring down his face until the wetness made itself evident.

"Wait, Lilli!" Vash's clumsy feet made to carry him towards the fourth level hollow that his beloved sister had vanished into.

The ribbon lay forgotten on the ground.

"No you don't." He was blocked by a flame haired man slightly shorter than him. His hair was dripping wet, yet his clothes and legs were dry. He spread his arms wide to block Vash from going around him.

"The girl doesn't want to see you right now, I thought that was obvious from how she talked! So take a hint, and take a hike!"

The scotsman snarled.

"Peace, people."

Vash couldn't help but stare as a ridiculously elongated arm stretched between him and the angry man with the wet hair.

The man had a bandage tapped across his nose, and planted a hand to his fellow myth creatures chest. His chocolate brown locks were, too, soaking wet. His legs were a good five inches longer than they should have been, and his wingspan appeared to be at least four inches longer than he was tall.

His legs were covered with scales, and his bare feet were webbed.

"W-What the hell are _you?_ " Vash sputtered, stumbling backwards in shock.

The man turned his head to him, cocking it to the side.

"Me?"

"Y-You're arms...and legs...there's nothing about something like you on our charts!" Vash cried out, eyes wide.

The brown haired sea dweller scowled. "What I am is a person, maybe you should treat me like one." He replied sharply.

Vash had never spoken to the creatures he hunted, but at this point, they were looking a lot more human than he felt at the moment.

While this situation was being dealt with below, another person with their hair shedding water from their rapid blow dry that had whirled around their bodies but had not reached their heads, rolled over the wall and into Lilli's hollow.

"Lil!" Michelle popped up from the floor and raced to the girls side. Lilli was in shambles, tears flooding down her face so fast she could barely wipe them away before new ones made their appearance.

She unsuccessfully swiped at her eyes with her balled up fists as she hiccuped.

"I-I-I h-had to p-pick a s-side, b-but I didn't k-know ab-about him I didn't kn-kn-know..."

Michelle enveloped her in a gently embrace, deeply tanned arms encircling the germanic girl.  
She shushed her softly, rocking them back and forth in a comforting manner as she whispered.

"I'm sure he can change...you were right, he was wrong, don't regret it. Lilli..."

Michelle pulled away and grasped both of Lilli's hands, lifting them between the two of them.

"If anything, know that _we_ love you. That you have chosen us, it only makes it even more right that we let you stay here...oh, it feels like years ago, doesn't it?"

Lilli choked on a watery laugh at the exaggerated questionable expression Michelle pasted across her face.

The mermaids eyes softened as she tightened her grasp on the girls hands.

"We will take care of you. You never have too worry...you can always call this place home. It is a Sanctuary, species non-specific. Ok?"

Lilli nodded slowly, tears still bubbling from her eyes uncontrollably.

"Oh, come here, I'll hold you, mon fille."

Michelle pulled the younger girl too her chest as Lilli's soft, stifled wails grew in intensity, sobbing unleashed fully, unable to stop the emotions overwhelming her.

After a few moments there was a burst of green in the hollow, and Romeo appeared, grinning cheekily.

Lilli pulled her face out of Michelle's shoulder and looked up at him, tears still cutting free from the corners of her eyes anew.

" _Mio dio!_ You sure showed him Lil, and I was about to give him a good one-two, before I realized he was a lot bigger than me...well stronger anyway..."

Romeo's voice spilled out without hesitation the moment he appeared.

However, once he took in the scenario, he waved his arms around in panic, thinking he'd upset Lilli further.

"I-I-I, I'm sorry, I didn't think, that was..." The italian boy stuttered, arms frozen awkwardly from where he'd been gesturing.

Lilli let out a sound that was sort of a half sob half laugh and stood up, throwing herself into Romeo's chest before her previous wrecked heart quelled up again and she burst into tears once more.

Not like they had ever really stopped.

Yelping, Romeo hurried to return the embrace, then fully took to the comforting roll, carding his fingers through short honey blonde hair as Michelle rubbed soothing circling into her back.

It would be a long time before she was willing to venture back out, back into the area where her now renounced brother could come up to her, but at least she had so many around her that would speak for her if necessary, and teleport her away if all else failed.

There were some positives to befriending so many supernatural beings, after all.

 ** _Outside._**

"Wahoo! A successful outing, indeed!" Li Xiang shouted as he came flying into the tunnel.

"Why the hell are you talking like that?" Emil muttered as he came shuffling in behind his enthused friend.

Li Xiang shrugged, grinning. "Dude, you materialized wings, how are you not excited!?"

Emil frowned. "For like less than a second. Then they exploded and threw me into the air."  
"Hey, at least I cushioned your fall, like the good friend I am." Li Xiang proclaimed, putting a hand to his chest.

When they saw Jett and Toby restraining Allistor from full on maiming what looked like an unresponsive Vash seated on the edge of the main fountain, they stopped all bantering.

"Whoa...what happened?" Emil murmured as they walked up the small slope and into the light of the runes.

"Hey!" Li Xiang sprinted forward and stooped, picking up a purple ribbon tied in a rumpled bow.

"This is Lilli's, she wears it all the time!"

Nicolae stepped up and took ahold of both of them by the arm.

"Come over here, let me explain."  
After a few seconds, Vash glanced up in surprise, gaze caught by the blast of fire roaring out of Li Xiang's mouth.

The temperatures were intense when the two came charging at him, a boy with hair of snow glaring daggers with pinkish eyes as he gave off a frigid cold aura. By his side was a fiery teen who was literally snarling out flames with every breath.

"HOW DARE YOU, LIKE, DO THAT TO LIL YOU SAD LITTLE..."  
"YOU CALL YOURSELF A BIG BROTHER YOU..."

"PEACE, DAMMIT!" Jett wailed, seizing Emil by the back of the shirt as Nicolae forcibly dragged Li Xiang away from the unarmed swiss.

Meanwhile, before he could be seized by Gilbert, who had also arrived back, Emil vanished into white smoke.

Vash winced, waiting for his mind to be invaded like it had been by Sadik.

Instead, a far to familiar fur ball appeared on the ground.

"W-What? You're the cat!?" Vash roared as Emil darted across the grass, evading Gilbert chasing after him. The mans demon tail flicked in frustration.

"Emil! Get...back...HERE!" He swiped his hand and the shadows cast by the statues on the fountain sprung to life, caging the kitten.

Emil regrettably turned back into a human again, now dangling from several shady tendrils.  
"Fine! Let me down, where's Lilli?" He demanded.

Li Xiang was having difficultly escaping Jett's powerful arms, writhing, still trying to get off bursts of flame breath in an attempt to catch Vash on fire.

Vash stared at the boy trapped in the shadows in disbelief.

That stupid cat that Lilli had seen him about to take in, the non humanoid myth creature, was actually a teenaged boy.

Named _Emil?_

As in, the same Emil that Lilli often spoke to on the phone?

Also, this fire breathing boy had been addressed as Li Xiang, whom he'd heard mentioned in multiple of Lilli's phone conversations.

 _These_ boys were the two friends she was constantly seeing and spending them with.

For months now, yet they'd never hurt a hair on her head. Here they were giving a go at attacking him outright, wanting to defend her from any sort of harm.

It wasn't until Emil and Li Xiang had both freed themselves and gone running towards Lilli's hollow that Vash raked his fingers through his hair.

"I am _such_ an idiot." He mumbled.  
"Damn, you're just now realizing that?" Allistor asked pointedly from where he stood with his arms crossed, glaring down at Vash now that he had Toby trying to keep him from mauling the lone human.

Though at the moment, he felt alone more than just species wise.

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: So it was short and probably not as heartfelt as it was supposed to be life is HECTIC and I am TRYING so leave me to drown in root beer and cheetos in peace DAMMIT**_

 ** _Everyone: ..._**

 ** _Allistor: Sheesh. Is it that time of the month?_**

 ** _Amethyst: *Punches Allistor* NO AND SHUT UP_**

 ** _Michelle: We still believe you can do it!_**

 ** _Amethyst: Belief is dwindling fast, Sey, but I'm trying..._**

 ** _Arthur: Not sure how we're supposed to proceed from you exploding in the first sentence._**

 ** _Amethyst: I dunno, do something funny!_**

 ** _Francis: Like this? *Punches Arthur*_**

 ** _Arthur: YOU GIT *attacks Francis*_**

 ** _Amethyst: Now we're talking. *Watches two brawling idiots*_**

 ** _Ludwig: So, with that, please favorite, follow, review, and continue to support us! Thank you very much!_**


	34. Nightmare Forest

_**I...**_

 _ **I can't even say anything that will make up for what I'm about to spring on everyone. Sorry.**_

* * *

"I am _such_ an idiot." Vash mumbled.

"Damn, you're just now realizing that?" Allistor asked pointedly from where he stood with his arms crossed, glaring down at Vash now that he had Toby trying to keep him from mauling the lone human.

Though at the moment, he felt alone more than just species wise.

Before anything else could happen, and as the two boys who'd ran to check on Lilli started up the ladder, a massive rumbling shook the ground. The entire Sanctuary vibrated intensely, and several screams filled the air as everyone sprinted towards the center fountain.

Emil and Li Xiang dropped off the ladder when, in a burst of green, Romeo, Michelle, and Lilli all appeared on the grass below.

"What's happening?" Lilli demanded, looking panicked. Her face was blotchy from crying, and Romeo still had a hand on her shoulder. With all that was going on, he feared her passing out from pure overstimulation.

"Lil!" Li Xiang came up behind her and wrapped his arms around the shorter girl. Emil bounded around as a kitten and shape changed into his human form in front of her.  
"Are you ok?" Lilli nodded softly to this, and looked out to the tunnel opening.

"What in blue blazes is going on!?" Allistor demanded.

Another explosion shattered through the silence, and massive chunks of the roof shifted. Then a deafening crack pierced the air, and several pebbles dropped from high up above.

"We need to get out of here! The roof might come down with another of those blasts!" Nicolae shouted, already grabbing Wisteria under an arm.

"Everyone out! Hurry!" Allistor shouted.

The _rat-tat-tat_ of pounding up above terrified the myths into a frenzy. Valentin took the air and counted heads as Romeo wrapped his arms around Lilli and Michelle.

"I'll start taking people to the surface!" He shouted as they vanished.

For Lilli, the world spun in a haze of green smoke, her stomach left behind with the transport. When she next blinked, she was underneath the tree, it's gnarled roots holding the entrance to their home.

"Lil, get down!" Michelle tackled Lilli down as gunfire shot over their heads.

The human girl shrieked at the sight.

The labs were surrounding the tree, lobbing explosives, slamming at the ground with machinery, and firing rounds at the ground in an attempt to break through.

"How did they find us!?" Nicolae demanded as he came crawling from the tunnel.

One of the front soldiers waved his arm, and another volley of fire flew.

Nico barely got skyward before the bullets ripped into the tree, he careened across the canopy.

"No! _STOP IT!"_ Lilli screamed as the barrels followed the vampire through the air.

It wasn't necessary, Nicolae crashed all on his own, landing harshly on the ground and curling into himself.

"Nico!" Lilli ran over to him and paled. The boy's normally tanned skin was burnt red, and rapidly getting worse, his wings were smoking from direct contact with the sun.

The girl didn't know what to do, but before she made any more moves, a groaning sound of creaking wood filled the air.

The soldiers cried out as they were swept aside by massive oaken roots ripping from the pine dusted floor.

"Get _out_ of our forest!" Wisteria stood at the front of the tunnel as, by now, any left from within the Sanctuary fled up from underground. Valentin and Aurel were forced out into the daylight, both of them crying out in pain when the suns rays struck their exposed faces, but before either of them were subjected to any serious burns, a rounded dome of leaves rustled over them, branches of vines entwining into something of a cage and shoving them over to where Nicolae lay.

The trio of vampires were then rather forcibly shaded by the natural canopy Wisteria had constructed over them, crouched together and surrounded by a loose netting of branches and vines.

"Wisty, you're doing too much!" Peter shouted too her in a panic.

Wisteria's eyes were clouding over from the power she was exerting, her legs were growing down into the ground where she stood as green glows took over her hands. This was more than she was supposed to do. She knew it. Yet still, she was strong.

 _That's it..if I can just pull off one more stunt everyone will be safe...and I'll just become a flower for a while again..._

The girl began to tip backwards, the roots her legs had formed moving up her torso, until a gloved hand caught her.

"Damn, girl, don't be doing all the awesome stuff with me, the awesome-est of them all!"

Gilbert was behind the small girl, having caught her and kept her on her feet.

"C'mon, together now!" Gilbert shouted, turning about.

"Anyone who can do anything, do it now! Let's send these bastards running for the hills like a bunch of un-awesome cowards!"

Lilli watched in horror from where he stood near the now safely shaded vampires, as Wisteria bent her knees and bent her fingers as if she were clawing at the dirt. Gilbert put out his hand and it was as if the sun had dimmed. Shadows were overtaking the world as the trees grew to blot out the daylight. Peter reached out to Michelle and pulled her to her feet. Allistor put his arm around the mermaid. Toby and Jett joined hands. Kaiser raised his flute to his lips. Ludwig cracked his knuckles. Lars started creating tornados. Romeo settled his mind and picked his targets.

A plume of fire erupted from Li Xiang's mouth, and a monstrous roar echoed through the woods as Emil went beastly.

Wisteria's eyes sharpened.

"I said...get... _out!_ " She took a step forward and pushed.

The trees all around came alive, and the place was, for all, a nightmare forest.

Groups of soldiers scattered, their weapons vanishing into green smoke.

They barely evaded being caught on fire as a dragon chased them away, a snowy tiger on his heels to force out any stragglers. Shadows with physical presence were snatching up guns, transports, and men alike, and hurling them from the trees. The trees themselves were picking people up left and right, and tossing them into the meadow beyond. Winds beyond anything they'd ever seen shot them as if from cannons out into the clearing that separated the city and the unholy hell that had taken over within the twisted forest.

Lilli felt her heart swell, hope filling it as all of the myths attacked with their powers combined. For the most part, they were lacking the most powerful of their group. There was no Lukas, no Arthur, no Toris, no Yao. Tino and Berwald were absent. Mathias had taken off somewhere. Sadik was no where to be found. The vampires were helpless with the sun shining above.

Yet they were fighting back. They were winning.

When the last soldier was forced out of the shadows and into the light of the meadow, Lilli cried out.

"You did it!"

Kaiser's face was red and he was panting from how hard he'd been blowing on his flute.

"H-How did they know we..." He began.

This was before a great collapsing of the earth was brought to their attention. Everyone turned and could do nothing but watch as the tree that had so long sheltered them fell, the ground shook as centuries worth of stone shattered through the roof of their Sanctuary.

With a grand rumbling, dust burst up out of the small crevice.

All that was left of the underground stronghold. The tome was lost. Their safe place was destroyed. Unknown enemies could be hidden just beyond their view.

And Vash was gone.

Now, burnt, exhausted, and beaten, all they had left was empty promises.

* * *

 ** _Alfred: OUR HOME!_**

 ** _Amethyst: *Waves notebook* It was in the PLOT LIST. PLOOOOOT LISSSSST_**

 ** _Allistor: Who gives a damn about your plot list!? Where are gonna live!?_**

 ** _Amethyst: That's the least of your worries._**

 ** _Nicolae: Owwwww_**

 ** _Amethyst: *Offers sunblock*_**

 ** _Nicolae: *Snatches bottle* A LITTLE LATE NOW!_**

 ** _Feliks: Wait, where were people like me?_**

 ** _Amethyst: You all left in the morning._**

 ** _Feliks: Oh._**

 ** _Amethyst: *Sighs* Well, there you go. I'm gonna see if I can't get back to weekly updates but no promises. At least I've got some creative juices flowing!_**

 ** _Lilli: Please continue to support up by favoriting, following, and reviewing! Thanks so much!_**


	35. A year late announcement

**_Hey everyone!_**

 ** _Yeah, so, it's been over a year hasn't it? Since I posted on this website, that is. Not to say I no longer do fanfiction, I still do. I'm very active over on A03 but...ok, here's a story for you._**

 ** _A year ago._**

 ** _If anyone was following this story then, do remember how I was having laptop trouble? I know I put some stuff about it in the sign off and in the heading notes. Like, my computer shut down and I had to get it repaired and all this stuff. Well. That had some after affects. After the chapter 'Nightmare Forest' I had I'd say around six, close to seven, chapters of prewritten material._**

 ** _We're talking at least 20,000 words of content if not more, starting up with continuing the battle between Phoenix Labs and the newly homeless Myths. But then, my computer decided to reboot while I was working on the story._**

 ** _And I lost everything._**

 ** _My digital plot point list *Because, let's face it, after the beginnings I stopped writing my plot points in my notebook and copied them down into the document on pages* all of the content all the way back to the chapter where Emil gets stuck in Lilli's apartment! All of it! Gone! Poof!_**

 ** _So, well...here's the thing. I don't WANT to give up on this story. But after I lost all my work for it, I was just so angry that I sort of rage quit and started writing over on A03 to try and calm my nerves. I planned to return to the story in a month or two, after all my irritation from the loss of my work had chilled out. I couldn't work on Fugitive, it just made me get all angry and irritated with having to rewrite all of those ideas all over again, and I didn't enjoy it. Thoughts that had come to me during the first go around had vanished, I wasn't sure if I was missing something that was there before, and without my plot point list I couldn't check back to my original ideas like I normally do._**

 ** _Eventually I restructured my plot point list from what I DID have in my notebook, but by then I'd gotten wrapped up in the Haikyuu! fandom, writing some A/B/O stuff, and this story just sort of faded out. Then I started getting reviews again. Zaaze, Vendani, Madame Pomme, Animadow, Anesthesia. Not to mention a good handful of guest readers. All you guys brought my attention back over here again, to a story I'd all but given up on ever completing._**

 ** _So, I started trying again. It was slow going, and I mean, like, REALLY slow going, because I haven't done anything in the Hetalia fandom is over a year *yeah, you might have noticed* but I really love this story. I spent so much of my time fleshing it out and working on it, and even though I lost so much work I've finally managed to completely rebuild my plot point list, and I've officially started work on the 35th chapter. A whole three paragraphs of it. Don't hold me to my old updating schedule, or my old chapter lengths, and don't be surprised if after this I go silent again, but I swear on Holy Rome's grave that I'm going to do my absolute best to finish this story._**

 ** _Ok? I really mean it._**

 ** _So yeah. Thanks for holding out hope when I'd all but lost it, everyone. I hope to see you in the sign off room after chapter 35 really soon!_**

 ** _-Amethyst_**


	36. Conversations of the Lost

**_Starting small...only about 800 words here, but it's a good launching point. From here I'll be able to slide back into my old plans for this story and hopefully find some sort of groove for it again. I'll be honest I kinda forced this out after so long without doing anything over here, but I think it's a start! So, please enjoy!_**

* * *

The group of what was left of the myths trooped sullenly down the dirt path.

Valentin had done several head counts already, ensuring that no one had been trapped underground. Wisteria was awkwardly trying to fashion some sort of massive leaf umbrella for the vampires, and Kaiser was overly focused on his flute, fingers dancing up and down the shaft without actually playing any music.

Now was only the time for heavy, depressed silence.

The Sanctuary was gone, all of their most powerful players were all still out liberating labs. Still believing they had somewhere to come back too.

"Shouldn't we loop back around? What if the others come back?" Michelle asked worriedly, her fingers anxiously twirling at one of his pigtails.

Allistor put an arm around her shoulders.

"We could, but what if those goons come back? They know where we lived, they'll return with reinforcements. Even if some part of the Sanctuary is still open down there, we can't risk trying to dig our way in."

Jet raised a hand. "Couldn't we try to swim in from the beach? I mean, even if it's collapsed, we'd be able to find out just how much has survived, right?"

Toby hesitated. "Yeah, but then we'd have to leave the forest and make a run for the shore. Even there, only us water myths would actually be able to hide underwater. The others would be sitting ducks."

Jet deflated. "Good point."

Lilli, meanwhile, was trudging along in the back, her bangs sliding into her face what with her lack of a ribbon to keep them at bay.

 _This is all my fault…_

She thought to herself in silent misery.

 _If I'd just been more careful, if I'd just realized Big Brother's role…_

Anger flashed in her eyes.

 _No._

The fire licked at her heart, rage building in her chest.

 _If I'd just realized Vash's role in all this._

She couldn't recall the last time, mentally or aloud, that she'd referred to her brother by his first name.

She'd get used to it, because 'Big Brother' was something that clearly didn't suit him anymore.

Meanwhile, Emil and Li Xiang were conversing quietly just ahead of Lilli herself, whispering back and forth about things she couldn't quite hear.

That is, until they both fell back and picked up the pace again at either side of her.

"Hey Lil." Li Xiang greeted, his voice a bit wheezy from how far he'd had to push in his flame spewing abilities during the attack.

She merely gave a small nod in greeting.

Emil sighed. "C'mon…don't start blaming yourself for this."

Lilli squeaked. They'd seen straight through her.

"I-I I don't! I mean, it is my fault but that's not what I was…"

She groaned. "Never mind it. It is my fault! Can't you see? If I had just bothered to be a little more careful in my work, Vash and I wouldn't have had to come running to the Sanctuary, and he never would have launched that beacon. Things would still be the same as always. Instead I…I…"

"No, no, no, we are not having any waterworks right now. You've already cried enough today, Lilli." Emil insisted as Li Xiang put a hand on the girls back.

"Yeah, like, just because your bro was a bit higher up in the labs than we thought it doesn't, like, mean that that's you're fault."

Lilli sniffled. "A bit." She scoffed.

Now there was an understatement.

"And on top of that…he got away…" She sniveled again, wiping the sleeve of her dress against her nose.

"He got away and he knows about you all now. Too much! This is awful…I just…I don't know what to do…"  
Emil put a hand on her shoulder, and Li Xiang hadn't taken his hand from her back.

"You can smile. Keep your head up, at least. We're not done, not by a long shot. We'll find a way to bring the Sanctuary back…or…find a new one. We'll keep hidden until the others come back, and then we'll make a plan once they're here. Ok? It'll be ok, Lil. I believe in us, don't you?"

Lilli felt two more streaks of tears escape and begin running down her cheeks. She felt her heartbeat, which had been hammering unsteadily till now, beginning to smooth out.

She lifted her head up, and forced a tearstained smile.

"I do."

Li Xiang hummed.

"That makes three of us."

* * *

 _ **Amethyst: So. Here I am. Alive. Ish.**_

 _ **Arthur: Ish?  
**_

 _ **Amethyst: Yeah, well, see, it's been a year.**_

 ** _Alfred: WE NOTICED DUDE_**

 ** _Amethyst: Have you guys been here like, the entire time?  
_**

 ** _Yao: It was weird, aru. Like, we all sort of just fell asleep and like...we just woke up when you got back. It was weird._**

 ** _Amethyst: Yeah, I think most everyone is still asleep._**

 ** _Valentin: *Wakes up flailing* WAIT LABS SUN WHAT DID I MISS?  
_**

 ** _Amethyst: Absolutely nothing._**

 ** _Arthur: Well this little tid bit up there, he missed that._**

 ** _Amethyst: Yeah but that literally is just me trying to force myself to get into writing this story again._**

 ** _Arthur: Oh. Right._**

 ** _Amethyst: So, that's all for now! Please favorite, follow, and review! Sorry I've been gone so long, I'm gonna try my best to get going again here! Thanks for reading!_**


End file.
